The published interview of Ramzan Kadyrov «It is time to tell the truth» about the events in Botlikh and Imam Shamil has provoked a predictable reaction, especially among the Chechen and Dagestani public. Accusations against prominent figures of Dagestani and Chechen identity regarding events that took place almost two centuries ago and events that took place twenty years ago are not new, and there will be enough people interested in discussing them without us. However, we would like to draw attention to another aspect of this material, which, according to our observations, has gone unnoticed by the Muslim community.
But first, an important preface. It is no longer a secret for people who follow the participation of pro-Kremlin circles in the information wars, especially on the popular Telegram platform, that there are several media teams serving different government circles and groups, which have various relationships with each other, ranging from symbiosis to rivalry. And since no high-ranking official would write complicated texts himself, it is usually done by people from the corresponding media teams.
Now, let’s pay attention to the following excerpt from this interview: «On August 10, the Islamic Shura of Dagestan announced the creation of an Islamic state. The operation against terrorists lasted from August 11 to 24. During this operation, the leaders of the militants were unharmed. Shamil Basayev spent two days in the Botlikh district. Upon his return to Grozny, he held daily meetings with journalists in Udugov’s office in Bashirovka. On the second day, Haidar Jemal flew in from Moscow. They talked privately for more than four hours.
Thus, we see that the thought is unintentionally planted here that one of the organizers of the campaign led by Khattab and Basayev in Dagestan was the well-known Russian Islamic thinker and public figure Haidar Jemal, who died almost three years ago. It cannot be considered a coincidence that this sudden mention of Haidar Jemal’s name comes shortly after the world learned of the results of a detailed investigation that proved the involvement of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s team, both in terms of its power and its media division, in the murder of his son, Orkhan Jemal. The media workers of Prigozhin’s team apparently considered it useless to dispute the facts presented in this report. Therefore, as the analysis of several new materials shows, a new line of attack was chosen — discrediting the deceased Orkhan Yemal and the people who raised this issue in the media, using the name of his late father, Haidar Yemal. In particular, an article titled «Russophobe Maxim Shevchenko Dreams of an Islamic Revolution in the Caucasus and the Soon Collapse of Russia» was published on the Prigozhin-affiliated Riafan website, which actively spread misinformation after Orkhan Jemal’s murder.
The content of this article shows that one of the main arguments aimed at discrediting Maxim Shevchenko is his close relationship with Haidar Yemal, who is portrayed as an ideologist of Islamic extremism. The same image of Haidar Jemal emerges from the above-quoted fragment of the interview, which was clearly prepared by media specialists on behalf of Ramzan Kadyrov. In our opinion, it was these specialists, possibly at the request of their colleagues from Prigozhin’s team, who included this part in the interview in order to cast a shadow on Jemal’s name. This idea is supported by the fact that Ramzan Kadyrov himself sent condolences to Yemal’s family after his death. Would this be possible if he considered him one of the organizers of the Basayev-Khattab campaign in Dagestan, and thus an opponent of his father? Would they invite Haidar Jemal to the events organized in Chechnya by the administration of Ramzan Kadyrov, in which he participated? Would Maxim Shevchenko, among others, support Ramzan Kadyrov in such a case, especially in the recent debates with the popular Ichkeria video blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov?
The authors of this passage, aimed at discrediting Haidar Jemal through the words of Ramzan Kadyrov, obviously did not consider these questions, probably because they come from a completely different circle and were not aware of such facts, simply fulfilling the «request» of their colleagues. However, the inconsistencies of this anti-Jemal passage in the interview are too obvious for anyone who knows about them. As well as the fact that the discrediting of Haidar Jemal and those associated with him is now necessary to neutralize the effect of the investigation into the murder of his son, the organizers of which are already evident to the whole world.