Social media users found official raids on Chechen stores to be useless.

Officials' reports of raids on stores and markets in Chechnya due to rising prices during Ramadan are not helping to lower prices. Social media users pointed out that food suppliers, not retail outlets, are the ones driving the rise.

As "Caucasian Knot" reported, prices are rising again before Ramadan, both in markets and stores, social media users pointed out in early February. They noted that the food prices published by the official Chechen newspaper do not reflect reality. Chechen authorities' reports of price controls have had virtually no impact on the situation in stores and markets, users noted. Low-income residents of Grozny, including pensioners and teachers, reported that, amid rising prices, they are struggling to find money for groceries at the beginning of Ramadan. Residents of rural areas have an easier time securing food, but prices for basic groceries in local stores have also risen. Wholesale suppliers are inflating food prices during Ramadan, forcing stores and businesses to add prices, commentators said in response to reports of government raids on Chechen markets.

Reports from Chechen administrations on raids on stores and markets are published on the Chechnya Today agency's Instagram page*.

In particular, it published a report from the Gudermes district administration that in In Gudermes, inspections are being conducted to ensure compliance with pricing policies for essential food products during the holy month of Ramadan.

"Representatives of the administration, Rospotrebnadzor, law enforcement agencies, and the prosecutor's office are involved in the raids. Particular attention is paid to preventing unjustified price increases, complying with legal requirements, and protecting the interests of citizens,” the district administration reported.

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Russian commenters found the raids useless.

"No point," noted chris_redfield_95.

"Not stores, but suppliers need to be kept under control!!" - says user sal.2858.

"I agree," supported za_rizvan_95.

"And the egg tray is 400, which used to cost 180," noted khemus_handmade.

"Meat is already 800," complained abubakr_assiddik.

As a reminder, the head of Chechnya previously threatened residents who shopped in other republics. Thus, Kadyrov's threats to confiscate food from vendors in 2025 came amid an existing practice: previously, goods purchased outside the republic before Eid al-Fitr were confiscated from customers. Two Chechen residents reported that their cars were searched at the border with Dagestan before Eid al-Fitr in 2024 as part of a crackdown on violators of the "resolution on supporting local entrepreneurship," according to a "Caucasian Knot" report published on March 13, 2025. Police stated that "they had orders to confiscate goods for the benefit of childcare facilities," but one of the respondents, an elderly driver, managed to persuade the security forces. In another case, security forces "pulled two boxes of chickens and one package of 30 eggs from a car." Residents of Chechnya also reported similar searches at the Gerzelsky checkpoint in 2023. "They picked on the chickens, saying, 'We're not patriots of the republic,' and 'They sell chickens everywhere in Chechnya, but you buy them in Dagestan.' So, they confiscated the chickens," a Chechen resident quoted her neighbor as saying.