On August 25, Armenia's second president, Robert Kocharyan, and his eldest son, Sedrak, were detained. Security forces are simultaneously conducting searches at several dozen addresses linked to the Kocharyan family. Investigators allege a scheme to illegally seize state property and then conceal its origins.
Chechnya's leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, harshly criticized Alla Pugacheva's statements in a recent interview in which the singer spoke favorably of Dzhokhar Dudayev. Kadyrov called the singer an "enemy of the people" and accused her of disrespecting a tragic period in Chechen history.
He claimed Dudayev had "generalist ambitions, posturing, and a disregard for the real problems of the Chechen people," which, he claimed, led to a rise in crime and economic collapse.
The regional leader emphasized that "enemies of the people and traitors like Pugacheva" should not "reflect foolishly on the most difficult period for the Chechen people" and called for "not provoking the Chechens."
As a reminder, Alla Pugacheva recently gave her first detailed interview since the start of the "SVO" in Ukraine and her departure from Russia. Specifically, the singer touched on the topic of the first Russo-Chechen War. In an interview with the "Skazhi Gordeyeva" channel, she spoke about her acquaintance with Dzhokhar Dudayev, describing him as a "decent, honorable, intelligent" man. Pugacheva expressed regret that she was unable to help him and his wife, Alla Fedorovna Dudayeva, during the war.
The outstanding artist's statements caused a widespread stir: lawyer Alexander Treshchev filed a 1.5 billion ruble lawsuit against her for "rehabilitation of terrorism," but the court has not yet accepted the case.
It is noteworthy that Ramzan Kadyrov himself has previously stated on numerous occasions that “President Dudayev was a real man” and “a truly great person.”
Dzhokhar Dudayev was the first president of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. In April 1996, he was killed in a Russian airstrike.