Activists symbolically replace Akhmat Kadyrov by dedicating his new St. Petersburg bridge to WWII-era Chechen hero
Earlier today, activists from the Solidarity movement hung a sign from a bridge in St. Petersburg recently renamed after former Chechen President Akhmat Kadyrov. The activists’ banner honored a different Chechen: Abukhadzhi Idrisov, a sniper who defended the city of Leningrad during the Second World War and fought to liberate from the Nazis cities across the Peskov region and Baltic states. Idrisov is credited with killing more than 300 German enemy soldiers, for which he was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal.
Kadyrov bridge gets a different name.
“We respect and honor the memory of the heroes who saved our city from total destruction [at the hands of] the Nazis. This Chechen soldier who stopped enemy [soldiers] on their approach to Leningrad is among them. The bridge on the Avenue of Heroes, [now] named after Abukhadzhi Idrisov, will be a tribute to the grateful memory of the inhabitants of our city of all of the compatriots who fought for our lives and freedom,” read a statement by Solidarity.
On June 16, Georgy Poltavchenko, the governor of St. Petersburg, officially renamed the bridge in question in honor of Akhmat Kadyrov, the first president of the Chechen Republic. He son has ruled in his place, earning an international reputation for his human right abuses and personality cult.
Poltavchenko’s decision came despite protests and petitions signed by locals opposed to the idea.