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Only a third of Russians are inclined to trust Ramzan Kadyrov
President of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov yesterday at a press conference in Grozny suggested that “media representatives and authors of television projects about Chechnya” change their “approach to the Chechen people” and be more objective. “Some authors consider themselves lucky to have made a film about the Chechen war in which Chechens are portrayed as bandits, informers and traitors,” Mr. Kadyrov complained. “This deliberate distortion of the image of an entire people has an extremely negative impact on the political situation in the country.”The father of the current leader of Chechnya, Akhmat Kadyrov, has also repeatedly criticized journalists and television personalities for their incorrect interpretation of events in the North Caucasus from his point of view. Three years ago, speaking at a public forum of the peoples of the Caucasus in Sochi , Akhmat-Khadzhi was outraged by the demonstration on federal channels of TV series in which “Russian special forces destroy bad Chechens.” Such television programs, in his opinion, are painfully perceived by the residents of Chechnya, who witnessed the war with their own eyes for a decade and lost their loved ones in it.
Akhmat-haji Kadyrov then joked about the implausibility of scenes in which two Russian paratroopers kill 200-300 Chechens each, hinting that if the ratio of military qualities were really in such a proportion, it would not be necessary to keep such a large military group in Chechnya for so long . Ramzan Kadyrov explained his critical considerations differently: he recalled that in the past, Chechens had repeatedly defended the interests of the state and “died defending the territorial integrity of Russia.”
In the events that in the 90s led to the actual violation of territorial integrity in the Caucasus, the Chechens, according to Ramzan Kadyrov, did not participate at all: “Those who fought here against Russia were not Chechens, they were international terrorists, and the country’s leadership recognized “that mercenaries from 50 states fought here, trained in other countries and heading to Chechnya with the goal of destroying Russia.”
Thus, Ramzan Kadyrov actually refused to consider the period of independence as part of Chechen history, for which both his family and several thousand of his current supporters, now working in the Chechen police, fought. But he very simply explained the meaning of the concept of “Chechenization of the conflict,” which has become fashionable among Moscow political scientists in recent years: “Only thanks to the Chechens, who stood up against international terrorism and declared war on it, did the flow of coffins with dead soldiers from the Chechen Republic stop.”
It is difficult to argue with this explanation. But a sociological survey conducted earlier this year by Levada Center specialists shows that many Russians are not yet inclined to trust the news about the advent of peace in Chechnya and Ramzan Kadyrov personally. 35% of respondents expressed distrust of the youngest leader of the Russian region, and another 32% have not yet determined their attitude. At the same time, about a third of Russians believe in Mr. Kadyrov. About the same number believe that he will be able to stabilize the situation and bring peace to Chechnya. But 38% doubt his ability to stop the bloodshed.
Anxiety and concern regarding Chechnya remain in society: 10% of Russians consider the situation in the republic critical, two-thirds consider it tense. According to sociologists from the Levada Center, quite a few Russians continue to believe that there is a war going on in Chechnya, which can be stopped by starting negotiations with the militants (70%) or continuing hostilities (16%).
These figures indicate that the President of Chechnya is generally right in criticizing television and the media for their coverage of Chechen issues. Judging by the answers, either the compilers of the questionnaire or their respondents do not fully understand who Ramzan Kadyrov is and what has changed in the republic since the end of the so-called “active phase of hostilities.” However, the respondents, like the President of Chechnya, do not hide their critical attitude towards the coverage of Chechen issues in the Russian media: 49% of citizens consider it superficial, and 28% consider it biased and hiding significant problems. Only 11% of their readers, viewers and listeners are satisfied with the work of journalists specializing in Chechnya.