Novaya Gazeta columnist Elena Milashina will temporarily leave Russia after Kadyrov's threats

Novaya Gazeta journalist Elena Milashina reported on the Dozhd TV channel that after threats from the Chechen leadership, she will leave Russia for a while, “as has happened many times.”

My editor-in-chief and my rather high-ranking sources insist on this, saying that the threat to my personal safety is high now. So I will listen to them, although I really don’t like it, I don’t like such things.

The journalist said that she considers the threats made by the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov and the State Duma deputy from Chechnya Adam Delimkhanov to be real. "These are not words simply thrown out in a fit of anger or emotion. This is a real threat. It should be perceived as such. Mr. Delimkhanov is a very dangerous person. I don't even know who is more dangerous - Ramzan Kadyrov or Delimkhanov, so this is a very serious situation," Milashina said.

Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov told RBC that he does not comment on the safety of the newspaper's correspondents. "Elena [Milashina] is following our protocols. Her location will not affect our coverage of human rights in Chechnya," he said.

• On January 23, Ramzan Kadyrov called Novaya Gazeta journalist Elena Milashina and human rights activist Igor Kalyapin "terrorists" and "accomplices of terrorists" and called on law enforcement agencies to detain them. On February 1, Kadyrov called for a case to be opened against Dozhd and Novaya Gazeta, also calling them "terrorists" and "accomplices of terrorists."
• The head of Chechnya made these statements against the backdrop of the persecution of the family of former Supreme Court of Chechnya judge Saidi Yangulbaev. In January, Chechen security forces forcibly took the judge's wife Zarema Musayeva from Nizhny Novgorod to Grozny, where a criminal case was opened against her for attacking a police officer. After the incident, Saidi Yangulbaev and his daughter left Russia; his sons are also abroad. Kadyrov demands that they be extradited to Russia, otherwise "the first Chechen will deal with them."
• On February 1, State Duma deputy Adam Delimkhanov said he had "feud and blood feud" with the family of Judge Saidi Yangulbaev. "Know that day and night, not sparing our lives, property and descendants, we will pursue you until we cut off your heads and kill you," the deputy said.