The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, called State Duma deputy Vladimir Shamanov "a criminal who should be court-martialed," the Chechnya Today portal reports.
"The Chechen Republic is changing for the better every day. But there are people who don't like it, including in the federal center and in our neighborhood. They thought we would always be in the background. They are jealous that we are at the forefront. Now, when we started changing the names of Shelkovskaya and Naurskaya, the vile scoundrel Shamanov spoke up, who needs to be court-martialed for the crimes he committed. He was the most cruel general towards the Chechen people, who took the male population out into the field and shot them. These crimes will cost him sideways and come back to him. Now he is dissatisfied with the fact that we have changed the names of cities," Kadyrov said at a solemn event dedicated to the International Teacher's Day in Grozny.
He also noted that after two military campaigns, despite the fact that they wanted to move the capital, Grozny was preserved, as was its historical name.
"The name of the city of Grozny originates from the Grozny fortress, founded by Ermolov. Akhmat-Hadji responded with a harsh refusal to the proposal to move the capital to another place, saying that we would restore Grozny. Then a lot of people suggested and asked me to rename the city in honor of Akhmat-Hadji. Despite the fact that the renaming documents had already been prepared, I then stated that I did not agree with this, since Akhmat-Hadji said that we would restore and make the city of Grozny more beautiful than before. We do not change the name of Grozny. We change the names that are absolutely not suitable for the cities we have created. If we do not educate our children as patriots with a sense of self-esteem, then they will not study and their studies will not be useful. We are the rightful owners of this land and we are responsible for our people. We have always achieved what our people need and will continue to achieve it, and everyone knows it! We will stand firm on this by the will of the Almighty. So don't worry, everything will be fine! You teach the children the main thing, and we will do the rest," Kadyrov said.
Earlier, State Duma deputy Vladimir Shamanov was outraged by the renaming of settlements in the Chechen Republic. Shamanov, reacting to the decision of the deputies, stressed that these settlements have their own historical names.
The lower House of Parliament adopted in the first reading a draft on renaming the cities of Sernovodsk (in Sernovodsk), Shelkovskaya (in Terek) and Naurskaya (in Nerva) in Chechnya. The document was proposed by the Chechen Parliament. The bill on renaming three settlements was submitted to the State Duma in early June.