Bloggers' visit to Chechnya triggers ambiguous reaction in social networks

A group of bloggers has visited Grozny and met the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. The guests admired the architecture of the capital of the republic. Critics in social networks have doubted the need for this visit and suggested the visitors' desire to please Kadyrov.

The bloggers who visited Grozny are among the most popular in Chechnya, the press service of the head and the government of Chechnya told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Among the guys are my long-time friend and younger brother Konstantin Tkachenko, the head of the popular portal in support of President Putin's policies; Artyom Kalaidjyan, a Russian humorist, blogger and actor ... and others," Ramzan Kadyrov wrote about his guests in the social network "VKontakte".

"Chechnya is always happy to welcome guests and is open to everyone. I'm sure the guys will get a lot of positive emotions and vivid impressions about the republic," Mr Kadyrov wrote.

At the meeting with Kadyrov, bloggers compared Grozny with Dubai, the "Pobeda" (Victory) reports.

Chechnya is good for the development of video blogging, since Chechens are very charismatic people, Yaroslav Andreev, an Internet entrepreneur, said on air of the "Grozny" TV Channel.

The visit of bloggers did not cause a uniform positive reaction among the commentators in Kadyrov's page. "And what's the use of communicating with them? They will say what you want to hear from them," wrote one of the users.

Another commentator doubted that the bloggers listed by Kadyrov are really popular.