The authorities explained the ban on the use of jeeps in the forests of Chechnya by concern for the environment.

Using jeeps and enduro bikes in Chechnya's forests is permitted only on paved roads; driving into the forest is prohibited, the head of the Chechen government stated, citing concerns about preserving flora and fauna. However, he did not comment on the head of the hunting department's plans to confiscate off-road vehicles belonging to violators.

Most of Chechnya, with the exception of the Naursky and Shelkovsky districts, is mountainous and covered in forests. More than 2,600 kilometers of fire roads have been laid in the region's forests to quickly respond to fires, but these roads have fallen into disrepair due to off-road driving, explained Chechen Prime Minister Magomed Daudov.

"Summer temperatures exceed 40 degrees Celsius. Our region has long been classified as a high fire hazard. However, all the fire roads laid in the forests have fallen into disrepair. This is due to extreme sports enthusiasts using them on dirt bikes and SUVs with large wheels, leaving large ruts behind. Upon learning of the situation, Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov imposed a corresponding ban," Daudov was quoted as saying by Grozny State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company.

According to him, neither jeep tours nor enduro racing are banned in the republic. Heavy equipment has been operating continuously in all mountainous regions since 2019. Roads have been paved to all the traditional habitats of the Chechen tyips, allowing for jeep tours and pit bike rides. However, driving off these roads into the forest is prohibited. "Our region has forests, fields, and sandstone tracts. The main thing is to exercise without disturbing people or harming nature and fauna," Daudov noted, emphasizing that the noise from SUVs "scares animals away from their habitats," according to the publication.

He did not comment on the threats to confiscate vehicles.

Previously, the head of the Chechen Republic's Hunting Department and former head of the Kurchaloy District Police Department, Khamzat Edelgeriev, threatened to confiscate motorcycles from "enduro riders" who venture into the forests.

"Enduro riders" who ride motorcycles in Chechnya… "We're closing the (hunting) season in the middle of the month, on the 15th... We'll confiscate cars and motorcycles that roam the forests wherever they want. No one has the right to ride a motorcycle or car in the forests. We'll begin work on the 15th (of February)," a "Caucasian Knot" reader translated his words, published on the Instagram8 public page "Chechnya Emergency." ("Caucasian Knot" cannot confirm the accuracy of the translation)

This information was not provided on the website of the hunting department.

"Who, and on what grounds, gives some head of the republic's hunting department the right to take away an owner's personal property? I can understand fining them or employing them in forest clearing work, but anything else is simply outright lawlessness," a reader believes.

As "Caucasian Knot" reported earlier, Chechen Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture, and Ramzan Kadyrov's son-in-law, Viskhan Matsuev, stated that the republic's authorities will confiscate the cars of those who dump trash in the wrong place. However, the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses only provides for the confiscation of vehicles for such offenses from officials and legal entities. Chechen authorities have previously threatened to confiscate vehicles, but for other violations. For example, Rustam Aguyev, head of the Kurchaloy District Police Department in Chechnya, promised to confiscate cars from traffic violators, citing increased enforcement during the Eid al-Fitr holiday. In January 2020, he also ordered his subordinates to confiscate cars from traffic violators and send the drivers to clean the streets. It was later reported that security forces in the Kurchaloy District forced residents of a mosque to clean the grounds of a mosque for drunk driving. One of the district police department leaders called such violators "terrorists" and repeated the threat to confiscate their cars. However, the law only allows for the seizure of vehicles in certain clearly defined cases.