A Russian governor apologizes to the Chechen people after police and passersby in Voronezh get rough and nasty with a Chechen family

On July 27, three police officers in Voronezh approached two Chechen women with a child and asked to see their documents. Only one of the officers was in uniform, and the other two were in plainclothes. One of the women, an adolescent girl, refused to show her papers, telling police that she was simply out for a walk with a three-month-old baby, not breaking any laws. The officers then demanded that she accompany them to the police station.

“They did not respond when we asked them to identify themselves, and when asked to state the reasons for their demands, they said we were wearing headscarves and long skirts and could commit a terrorist attack,” Markha Abdullayeva, one of the women, explained later. An officer threatened to smash her companion’s phone and put both women in handcuffs, when she started filming the encounter.

Two of the women’s relatives eventually got involved in the confrontation, and both were detained. Abdullayeva says she called her father, Ruslan, and her brother, Shamil Yandarbayev, during the argument with police. The two men rushed to the scene and tried to defend the women from the police. As a result, the plainclothes officers detained both men and brought them to a local police station. Ruslan Abdullayev put up a fight, before he was knocked to the ground and restrained. “I don’t know why they weren’t in uniform. They were special agents, probably. They’re allowed [to go around like that],” Ruslan Abdullayev told Meduza, saying that he and Yandarbayev were held only briefly before they were released without charges.

Yandarbayev told Meduza that the women suffered only “moral” injuries in their confrontation with police.

In footage of the Chechen women arguing with the police officers, passersby can be heard muttering racist epithets and telling the women that they are guests of “Russian and Soviet” people in Voronezh. One local woman also accused the Chechens of provoking passersby.

Ramzan Kadyrov has spoken out in support of the two Chechen women. On July 27, Kadyrov published a video online that spread virally on Vkontakte, where he described the incident as a “disgrace,” calling on Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev to investigate the officers’ actions.

Two days later, Kadyrov wrote on Instagram that the officers had “acknowledged their wrongdoing,” stating that he’d discussed the matter with Voronezh Governor Alexey Gordeyev. According to Kadyrov, the governor, other regional officials, and “the public of Voronezh” have all condemned the actions of the police.

“It’s known that the participants in this incident have appealed to the victims, asking forgiveness. I don’t know how Ruslan Abdullayev, his daughter, and others will respond, but forgetting all this won’t be hard for any of us,” Kadyrov wrote.

Voronezh Governor Alexey Gordeyev has publicly apologized to Ruslan Abdullayev’s family and to the people of Chechnya. According to the news media in Grozny, Governor Gordeyev told Kadyrov that “the perpetrators will certainly be held responsible and will officially apologize to the wronged family.” The governor also extended his apologies to the Chechen people. Ruslan Abdullayev says his family has yet to receive any apology from the officers who detained him or the Voronezh police department.

Shamil Yandarbayev told Meduza that the family has been in contact with the local authorities in Voronezh and “discussions are now underway” to resolve the conflict.

Anti-extremism police in Chechnya have opened a preliminary hate-speech case against one of the passersby who insulted the two Chechen women. According to Chechen officials, investigators discovered footage of the incident on YouTube showing “an unidentified woman publicly expressing words that denigrate another person based on their sex, race, nationality, or language.” The woman is being investigated for inciting ethnic hatred under Russia’s controversial Criminal Code 282.

Federal investigators have also opened a case into the Voronezh police officers, arguing that they acted “improperly and rudely.” Russia’s Interior Ministry says it’s launched an internal review. Voronezh’s police department refused to answer Meduza’s questions.

Russian text by Pavel Merzlikin, translation by Kevin Rothrock