Kadyrov safeguarded Chechnya and Chechens

After the death of Chechen President Ahmad Kadyrov, Western mass media were expressing malicious joy.
Any blow to Russia is a gift for Western press. The comments by Russian press were overwhelmed with fear.

Meanwhile, the killed Chechen President deserves good words. Courage was a remarkable trait of Ahmad Kadyrov’s character. He was the only Chechen public figure who was staying in the republic for the last 10 years, with his fellow-Chechens. At the last Chechen Presidential elections, Chechens voted for the man who was staying with “his people”. Ahmad Kadyrov made another courageous decision – he made his son his main assistant. Having much money, Ahmad Kadyrov could have sent his son to study at some college abroad, but he did not do this.

Ahmad Kadyrov was not human to his enemies. This trait of character is not appreciated by Chechens. He was tough, but not dogmatic. Many people condemn his fighting against Russia during the first Chechen war in 1994-1996. However, many Russian pacifists also changed their opinions on the need of fighting in Chechnya during the second Chechen war. If people had stuck to their opinions without changing them (Russians were pacifists, and Chechens – radicals), we would see Chechen militants marching in Russian cities.

At a first sight, the columnists pay tribute to Kadyrov by saying of the challenges Russia is facing after his death. However, crying that all has been ruined and realizing the significance of the loss are two different things. If we face the collapse of Russian policy in Chechnya, there is no sense in paying tribute to the assassinated President.

No way such collapse can occur. This would mean collapse of Russia as sovereign state. 

What are we going to have?

Chechnya will have new Presidential elections until September 9. The son of the assassinated President, Ramzan Kadyrov, will not run because he is too young, and Chechen law requests the President to be minimum 35 years of age. However, Ramzan Kadyrov will stay an authoritative figure in Chechen capital Grozny as the commander of Chechen military unit.  New leaders will arise, and life will go on, both Moscow and the majority of Chechens are interested in this.

Being afraid, many people request introducing the regime of emergency situation and direct rule of Russian President in Chechnya. Fear is a bad advisor. Direct Presidential rule will just freeze the situation, while it is still far from perfect. There is no need to cancel all the achievements of the recent years. Many things have been changed in Chechnya. No more Chechens are going to join combatants. Current Chechen leader appreciated the advantage of being legitimate, and are interested in maintaining this status. There are many problems: stealing state funds, terrorist acts, fight between different clans of Chechens, but the thngs are improving.

To cut the description of the killed Chechen President short, I can say, “Ahmad Kadyrov was a courageous and distinguished person. His death is the tragedy for people. But the main achievement of his life is that his absence will not mean the catastrophe for his motherland. The best epitaph for him ccould be his words said shortly before his death, “The most important thing is that we adopted Constitution and said “yes” to Russia”. 
And the last thing. Not about Kadyrov and Chechnya. About ourselves. For what reasons is Vladimir Putin our President? Because he is more rational, more cool-headed than all our “elite”, and less cynical. He seems to be the only politician who remained calm after the explosion in Grozny on Victory Day. He found the right words to commemorate the dead. He gave the state awards to the families of the killed Chechen leaders. “In fact, Ahmad Kadyrov safeguarded Chechnya and Chechens”, said Vladimir Putin. Yes, he safeguarded each of us, and we appreciate this.