“DAY OF THE REPUBLIC” CELEBRATED.

The 6th of September, Vremya Novostei noted, marked the celebration of Chechen Independence Day, a holiday established by the late separatist president Dzhokhar Dudaev. This year, the holiday is being observed by the head of the pro-Moscow Chechen administration, Akhmad Kadyrov, by officials of his administration, by the command of the federal forces based in the republic and by the republican branch of the pro-Putin organization “United Russia.” Of course, Vremya Novostei pointed out, the holiday is no longer called independence day. Now it is called “the Day of the Republic” or “the Day of Civil Accord and Unity.” In the present draft of the new Chechen constitution, Kadyrov himself “struck out all mention of state sovereignty” for Ichkeria (Vremya.ru, September 6).