Two federal lawmakers have denied ordering the assassination of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov after he declared a “blood feud” against them and a senator amid a dispute over the merger of Russia’s largest online retailer Wildberries.
Last week, Kadyrov accused State Duma deputies Bekhan Barakhoyev and Rizvan Kurbanov, as well as influential billionaire and Federation Council Senator Suleiman Kerimov, of plotting to kill him. The three lawmakers are originally from Ingushetia and Dagestan, two Russian republics neighboring Chechnya.
Barakhoyev on Wednesday denied Kadyrov’s accusation that he was involved in an alleged assassination plot.
“With Allah as a witness, I declare that I knew nothing about this,” Barakhoyev was quoted as saying by the independent news outlet Fortanga.
Barakhoyev’s remarks, made during a meeting with supporters in the Ingush town of Malgobek, come after Kurbanov issued a similar denial in a video message published Friday.
“I’ve never conspired to assassinate the honorable Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov and the almighty is a witness to that,” Kurbanov said. “I’m sure that time will come and justice will prevail, and those scoundrels who are causing this strife and are trying to incriminate [me] will be punished as they deserve.”
Kerimov has not yet responded to Kadyrov’s blood feud threat, but the Kremlin-appointed governor of Dagestan pledged his support of the businessman-politician, and regional authorities awarded him the title of “honorary citizen of Dagestan No. 1” earlier this week.
Kadyrov issued his death threat during his first public comments about last month’s shooting outside Wildberries’ Moscow headquarters, which resulted in the deaths of two ethnic Ingush security guards.
Multiple felony charges including murder were filed against ethnic Chechens involved in the incident and the ex-husband of Wildberries CEO Tatiana Kim, Vladislav Bakalchuk, who sought Kadyrov’s help to block the merger between the e-commerce giant and the smaller outdoor advertising group Russ.
Business news outlets have suggested that the Wildberries-Russ merger into the new company RVB is part of a larger, behind-the-scenes dispute between Kadyrov and Kerimov.