Suleyman is the relative of Ruslan Geremeyev, head of the Sever Battalion, the elite unite of the Chechen Interior Ministry's troops in which Zaur Dadayev, the chief suspect of the murder, and the other suspects served. The independent media as well as friends and family of Nemtsov repeatedly pointed out the necessity of interrogating and even arresting Geremeyev, who traveled to Moscow with Dadayev shortly before the murder last February, but in fact Moscow law-enforcers never seemed able to overcome the objections of Chechen officials -- and then Geremeyev fled Russia. Geremeyev's driver, Ruslan Mukhutdinov, who also escaped, was placed on a Russian international wanted list.
By "brother," Kadyrov means "cousin," as Russians use this term not just for immediate family members but more distant relatives.
It happened to be Geremeyev's birthday yesterday. Kadyrov wrote (translation by The Interpreter):
From the very beginning, he became a faithful comrade-at-arms of the First President of the Chechen Republic, Hero of Russia Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov, and never hesitated on the chosen path, and did everything that was in his power to help and support Akhmat-Khadzhi. At a time when others were still taking a wait-and-see position, doubting in the capabilities of the Kadyrov team, Suleyman Sadulayevich stated that he and his brothers were always together with Akhmat-Khadzi. Geremeyev has always assisted in the resolving of issues, which he brought to Moscow. He essentially acted as an aide to the president of the Chechen Republic. In these years, serious changes have taken place, Chechnya has changed to be unrecognizable. But today he displays principled position, a state approach to defending the interests of the republic in the Federation Council. I congratulate Suleyman Sadulayevich, and wish him strong health, happiness and prosperity!
In other words, Geremeyev is Kadyrov's lieutenant, taking care of assignments given him to perform in Moscow as an influential member of parliament -- a position which gives him immunity from prosecution.
Since Kadyrov made his latest threats to the opposition, and there have been a number of responses, Kadyrov has only doubled down, orchestrating "flash mobs" of dutiful government employees to stage demonstrations with posters bearing various alarming slogans.
Translation: Cover of the fresh issue of the Moscow Times.
Kadyrov and his supporters made use of social media as much as their critics.
A hashtag campaign was started on Twitter with various pro-Kremlin figures carrying posters saying "Kadyrov is a patriot of Russia."
Novaya Gazeta reported that United Russia, the ruling party also showed solidarity with Kadyrov by having Sergei Neverov, secretary of the party's general council; Vladimir Vasilyev, head of the United Russia faction in the State Duma; and Irina Yarovaya, head of the Duma committee on security post a photograph with the slogan.
Sergey Neverov - Timeline Photos | Facebook
Sergey Neverov posted this photo on 2016-01-21. 259 likes. 0 comments. 26 shares.
View full page →Translation: Stars, military and foreigners in the flashmob.
Patriotic singers Fyodor Bondarchuk and singer Nikolai Baskoy also posted photos of themselves with the slogans, as did various Chechen state employees. Komsomolskaya Pravda also posted mash-ups making it appear as if President Barack Obama, Sylvester Stallone and other celebrities were carrying the same posters.
Perhaps the campaign was going too far, as yesterday, presidential administration spokesman Dmitry Peskov tried to downplay Kadyrov's campaigns, saying:
"Nothing should be whipped up, you must simply read what is said calmly. The president is in constant dialogue both with the dominant political force and with opposition parties. But if we speak of those who, invoking political activity, speak of the readiness to deliberately go outside the framework of the law, then they at a minimum are not fostering stability and the prosperity of our state."
Ilya Yashin, deputy chairman of the Parnas opposition party, said he planned to release a report on Kadyrov on February 23 on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the murder of his close associate, Boris Nemtsov, RFE/RL's Russian-language service Svoboda reported, citing Vedomosti.
Translation: opposition member Ilya Yashin announced the publication of a report on Ramzan Kadyrov.
The report covers Kadyrov's career since the days when he fought the Russian government with Chechen rebels in the 1990s, then switched sides to become loyal to Moscow. The authors outline allegations of political murders which Kadyrov may be involved. The report concludes that the establishment of Kadyrov's regime threatens the political system of Russia itself.
Amnesty International issued a statement in Russian calling on Russia's federal authorities to "react" to the "barely-veiled threats" aimed at prominent journalists, human rights advocates and opposition politicians coming from Kadyrov.
Amnesty said such threats had to be taken seriously, given the history of the murders of journalist Anna Politkovskaya and human rights activist Natalya Estemirova and others.
But two of the associates of the defendants said to be the organizers of the murder -- Ruslan Geremeyev, leader of the Sever Battalion and his driver, Ruslan Mukhatudinov -- have slipped away, and this is in fact Bastrykin's fault, because he refused -- or was unable -- to pursue them and interrogate and arrest them in the Chechen Republic, and they fled the country.
"Bastrykin is either not informed of what is going on, or is deliberately leading people astray. Any criminal expert will tell you that no crime, especially a contract murder, can be considered solved before the contractors and organizers of the murder are established and their motives learned. Neither the contractors or the organizers nor their motives are in the case to date."
"There is the investigation, the indictment, the defense, and the trial. It is the court that must give consent to whether or not [the murder of Nemtsov] is solved. This does not enter into the prerogative of the Kremlin."
"Several times, Bastrykin did not sign the order for the charging of Ruslan Geremeyev in absentia. This is what sources I trust say."
Authorities continue to remove the unofficial memorial of flowers and pictures placed at the scene of Nemtsov's murder on the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge.
Translation: Once again, the memorial at the site of the murder of Nemtsov has been destroyed.
-- Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
As we reported earlier, "collapse" is not a word that Russian leaders want to use, but it is one that the Russian independent media is using.
Yesterday, Putin joked at a Russian forum on small business that Russian officials couldn't afford to go to Davos and were staying home where they belonged.
The ruble is currently trading at 83.11, after reaching 85 this morning.
Svenska Dagbladet reports that two Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jets pursued a Swedish airborne early warning and control flight over the Baltic last week.
Micael Bydén, supreme commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, told the defence committee today that the Russian jets following the Saab ASC 890 aircraft broke off after two Gripen jet fighters were dispatched to intercept them.
The incident occurred in the southern Baltic, near the Danish island of Bornholm.
According to the report, the foreign aircraft usually observe each others flight routes before moving on, however in this case the Russian fighters continued to chase the Swedish flight.
Allan Widman, chairman of the defence committee, said that it was "not an everyday incident."
This is only the latest in a series of worrying encounters between Swedish and Russian military aircraft.
The rate of the ruble to the US dollar fell to yet another historic low today as it is trading at 85 to a dollar, 91 to a euro, Gazeta.ru reported; the lowest before the current period was on December 16, 2014, so this means this the worst exchange rate since since the crisis of 1998. Currently the ruble is trading at 84.30 to the dollar and 91.86 to the euro, with Brent crude at $27.68, zenrus.ru reported.
The Central Bank raised the official rate by over 4 rubles to 83.59 for the dollar and 91.18 for the euro, Vedomosti reported.
Translation: Kostin: The dollar at 60 rubles is hardly likely.
He further noted (translation by The Interpreter):
"I don't expect a significant rallying of the ruble, although with the drop in oil prices some correlative rise is possible.
But it will never return to the level of 60 rubles (to the dollar)."
He didn't see signs of a currency shock despite the 4% drop today.
"There is no currency shock, we don't see behavior by clients out of the ordinary, he told journalists. In his opinion, the current level of the key rate of 11% is adquate for the economic conditions.
"It's possible that that there will be a weakening of the Central Bank from the perspective of the normatives, I don't think that the support of capital and liquidity is needed, said Kudrin, answering a question regarding whether the support of the banking sector was needed.
Presidential administration spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:
"I wouldn't use the word 'collapse.' The rate is really changing, the rate is volatile, but that is far from a collapse."
He said the Central Bank has developed several scenarios which will help to avoid a real collapse.
Sixty percent of Russians polled by Nielsen said they were refraining from buying new clothes due to the economic crisis, RBC.ru reported. And 71% said they were making compromises of some kind in their budget, whether deciding not to travel or to buy less food
Russian social media has been full of commentary on the ruble crash, a lot of it sardonic.
Translation: I saw the rate of foreign currency.
This Coub (a Russian version of a Gif) is popular; it shows a cartoon cat smashing a puzzle of a fish.
Translation: The Ministry of Finance is saving Russia's economy.
Cat: "Once again, nothing works! And that's how it works, too... Well, please, I don't need it!."
In this Coub, a clip from the movie Liar, Liar starring American actor Jim Carey showing incredulity is mashed up with an interview with Patriarch Kirill, who solemnly proclaims, "We are not talking about the value of the ruble; we are talking about a change in the exchange rate of the ruble."
Gazeta.ru reported that lines were forming at a number of currency exchange booths in Moscow, and some experts were starting to use the word "panic."
"The panic factor is clearly operating," said Ilya Prilepsky, head of International Economy at the Economic Expert Group.