Umarov urged not to disturb Kadyrov with video about "Ichkeria's servants"

The video in which military servicemen force their colleagues to shout "We serve Ichkeria*!" may be a fake aimed at denigrating the Chechen people, Djambulat Umarov, the Chechen Minister for National Policy Foreign Relations, Press and Information, has stated.

The above short video has appeared on the Internet, in which about 10 soldiers, being indoors, to the question of a young man in a tracksuit: "Who do you serve?" answer: "We serve Ichkeria*!"

Several anonymous Telegram channels have claimed that the video with shouts about Ichkeria* was posted "a week ago." However, no indication is given about the year when the video was filmed; and the "Caucasian Knot" cannot confirm that the clip was shot recently.

The video clip has triggered a stormy reaction of social network users. Some of them have called on the leadership of Chechnya, and Ramzan Kadyrov, in particular, to react to the situation.

The authenticity of the video still needs to be established, it may well be staged, Minister Umarov has stated.

"Why has everyone immediately decided that they are Chechens, not militaries of other nationalities who decided to joke in such an unsuccessful way? [...] Why do we immediately need the reaction of Chechnya in general and Ramzan Kadyrov in particular?" Mr Umarov wrote on April 30 in his Instagram, adding that "today, in social networks only a lazy person can go past the Chechen Republic and not try to kick it."

*Power bodies of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria are on the lists of terrorist organizations; any participation in activities thereof is a criminal offense.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 1, 2020 at 00:55 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.