MOSCOW, October 26 (RIA Novosti) – Leader of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has accused Russian lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky of “inciting hatred” in Russia after he called to “block off the Caucasus with barbed wire” during a TV program broadcast this week.
Speaking during the Poedinok program on Russia 1 TV channel, the leader of Russia's ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), known for his headline-grabbing outbursts, called to impose limits on the birth rate in the North Caucasus and curtail the movement of local citizens across the country.
Kadyrov said in a statement on Instagram that the sharp statements of Zhirinovsky, who he said had tried to prove that all the country’s problems were linked to the North Caucasus region, “insult millions of Russians,” adding that he should be “held accountable.”
Lawmakers from Russia’s Chechen Republic have asked the lower house of Russia's parliament to react to the statement. “We are now waiting for the response from the house’s leadership,” lawmaker Magomed Vakhayev said.
The Chechen leader said however that he did not take Zhirinovsky’s statements “seriously” as he understands that Russian President Vladimir Putin would never allow "unleashing interethnic and interreligious conflicts."
Updates with Vakhayev's statement.
