Kadyrov's words about Russian Vice-Premier remind of his federal ambitions

The criticism of Ramzan Kadyrov addressed to Vitaly Mutko, one of Russian Vice-Premiers, is caused by the fact that the head of Chechnya sees himself as a federal-level politician and is seeking to expand his influence, Dmitry Oreshkin and Alexei Malashenko, political analysts, believe.

The criticism of Ramzan Kadyrov against Vitaly Mutko is a new attempt by the head of Chechnya to strengthen his political influence, said Dmitry Oreshkin, a political analyst.

"Kadyrov has expanded the borders of Chechnya at the expense of Ingushetia; he intends to do the same at the expense of Dagestan; and now he is trying to expand his political influence," Mr Oreshkin told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The head of Chechnya is not stopped by the fact that Mutko's political status is incomparable with his own one, Dmitry Oreshkin has noted, adding that the criticism of Vice-Premier Mutko is a part of Kadyrov's strategy.

"The maximum mission of Ramzan Kadyrov is to become the ruler of the entire Northern Caucasus; the minimum goal is to slightly expand the influence of Chechnya," Oreshkin has explained.

Kadyrov's criticism is based on his personal offense by Mutko, caused by the ambitions of the head of Chechnya, Alexei Malashenko, a political scientist, has suggested.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 10, 2018 at 08:15 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.