Coronavirus: Chechen leader suggests killing those who break lockdown rules

Islamic republic in Russian Caucasus has recorded its first three cases of coronavirus, reports Oliver Carroll

(REUTERS)

Over the four months since its unwelcome appearance in Wuhan, Covid-19 has overcome some formidable barriers. It jumped from region to nation, continent to continent, urban to rural communities. It has mutated, and shot through populations with increasing speed.

Now it finds itself facing its most menacing adversary in Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov. After authorities in the Islamic republic announced their first three Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, the 43-year-old tiger lover declared war on the virus, and moved decisively to shut down most public spaces.

Mr Kadyrov also hinted his coronavirus response would be extended include a more familiar policy toolkit — by threatening to kill anyone who dared to break his lockdown rules.

“Anyone who creates the problem, if you ask me, should be killed,” the Chechen strongman told his cabinet during a televised conference. “These are people who not only infect themselves, but their family, sisters, brothers and neighbours.”

Mr Kadyrov said he was aware of at least one Chechen man who had ignored rules to self-isolate after a trip to Saudi Arabia: “He did not go into in quarantine but instead arranged prayer readings, and brought people together. If he has this disease, thousands of people will get sick.” It is unclear if the man to which Mr Kadyrov was referring was one of the three to test positive for the virus. Chechnya’s health minister said two returnees had arrived from Mecca via Istanbul; a third flew from Istanbul directly.

The Chechen leader is a late converter to the idea of a lockdown. Just two weeks ago, he suggested Chechens would be able to cope with traditional remedies and good fortune: “Those who are healthy will cope with the virus, and those who aren’t, won’t. Mix lemon with honey, drink it and wait it out. That way the virus will pass us by. Eat garlic.”

But the strongman’s U-turn mirrors a growing urgency at national level.

(Alexei Druzhinin/TASS (Alexei Druzhinin/TASS)

The novel coronavirus has yet to establish the same foothold in Russia as it has in Western Europe. But the trend in country is upward. Overnight to Tuesday, numbers of confirmed cases rose 57 to 495. At least one patient with Covid-19 infection has died. Other deaths caused by pneumonia may not have been properly attributed.

The language of the leadership has also markedly changed. Last week, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin insisted the situation was “under control”, but by Monday was acknowledging “serious challenges”. On Tuesday, Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who is a also a member of the national coronavirus taskforce, admitted “no one” knew the real scale of the crisis.

“It’s a serious situation,” he told Vladimir Putin.

The Russian president spent much of Tuesday doing his own televised field checks. Not only did he inspect the construction of a 500-bed field hospital outside Moscow, he also appeared at the suburban hospital handling most of Russia’s Covid-19 patients.

There, crews filmed him donning gloves, a yellow protective suit and respirator mask, before disappearing through the swing doors and into the coronavirus wards. What he saw inside is anyone’s guess.