‘Kadyrovites’ Threatened Residents of Moscow With War Because of Protests Over Mosque Construction

Armed men, reportedly the so-called “Kadyrovites,” have threatened Moscow residents with war for their protests against construction of a mosque in the city.

“We warn you! If you are against the will of the Almighty, we will fight with you. We don't care whom we fight against,” says one of the men on a video which recently went viral on social networks, adding that Muscovites who disagree with the mosque's construction incite ethnic strife in Russia, and, therefore, they should either be arrested or “destroyed.”

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has also responded to the protests in Moscow. On Monday, April 3, he posted a message on his Telegram channel calling the Russians who opposed the construction of a mosque in a sacred place for Orthodox Christians “cowards and provocateurs.”

“If all these rally participants wholeheartedly came out with the idea of protecting the Russian land, then go to the trenches with a machine gun!” he said.

“Such instigators should either be conscripted to vent all their anger on the enemy or sent to court as information saboteurs acting to please Satanists,” Kadyrov said.

In February, Moscow authorities began planning the construction of the largest mosque in Europe in Russia's capital. However, the place given as the site for construction - the Kosino-Ukhtomsky district - caused severe public dispute: there is a church of the Russian Orthodox Church and a Holy Lake nearby, which the locals revere. Thousands of people opposed the construction. An unknown man buried a pig's head at the mosque's construction site.

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This particular case can be seen as more evidence of the growing split in the Russian society.

The split can also be seen in the power wing of the Kremlin regime, where the leader of Wagner's PMCs, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is in open conflict with the leadership of the Russian Defense Ministry.

The representatives of business elites, who are currently losing their fortune due to the sanctions brought on by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, also don't seem to be very loyal to the Kremlin now.  

According to Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Chief Olexiy Danilov, the growing number of disputes in Russia  is going to end in its collapse in the next three to seven years.