The Day of Remembrance and Sorrow in Chechnya passed without large-scale events.
Events marking the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow in Chechnya were not large-scale; officials reported distributing meat from sacrificial animals in Grozny and Lugansk.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," the Chechen People's Day of Remembrance and Sorrow is celebrated on May 10, the anniversary of the funeral of Akhmat Kadyrov, who was killed in a terrorist attack on May 9, 2004. Residents of Chechnya previously noted that they were not prepared to combine the Day of Remembrance and mourning for Akhmat Kadyrov and complained of coercion to participate in memorial events and rituals. Large-scale religious events were held in the village of Dzhalka on May 9. The Day of Remembrance and Sorrow of the Peoples of Chechnya has effectively been reduced to mourning events for Ramzan Kadyrov's father; his image even appears on posters commemorating May 10th. Meanwhile, commemoration of the victims of the deportation is merely formal, Caucasian Knot readers pointed out. This date was established by Ramzan Kadyrov in 2011 as an alternative to mourning the victims of Stalin's deportation of the Vainakhs. Previously, the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow was celebrated in Chechnya on February 23rd, the date the deportation began. "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report "How Kadyrov turned a memorial service on February 23 into a holiday".
Lawyer Abusupyan Gaitayev, who is currently in Gudermes, reported that no large-scale events were held in this city or in Grozny on the day of mourning, May 10.
"There were no mass events of any kind. No rallies or memorials. In general, everything went unnoticed. If there were any events in memory of Akhmad Kadyrov's death, then most likely they were either in some institutions or in his ancestral village," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
A human rights activist familiar with the situation in Chechnya also has not heard of any large-scale events being held today. There were no complaints of coercion to participate in such events.
"February 23 is a day of remembrance and sorrow for Chechens, and everyone understands perfectly well that Kadyrov and the Kremlin are trying to erase this day from memory. "Attempts to change this date to the day of Akhmat Kadyrov's funeral will change nothing," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
Apart from the mass religious rite in Dzhalka, Chechen media have not reported on any mass events.
Human Rights Commissioner Mansur Soltayev reported on his Telegram channel about participating in a religious sacrifice ceremony at Chechen State University. The event was timed to coincide with the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow of the Peoples of the Chechen Republic. The animals were purchased through the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation.
The meat was distributed among the families of participants in the special military operation, residents affected by the natural disaster, and low-income families," he reported.
About a similar event In Luhansk, also funded by the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation, the head of the Akhmat special forces, Apti Alaudinov, reported. "The fighters distributed meat from a sacrificial animal and food packages to the residents of Luhansk," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
The memory of the victims of deportation is being relegated to the background.
May 10 is primarily perceived in Chechnya as Akhmat Kadyrov's memorial day, noted Amina Lorsanova, a lawyer for the Chechen human rights organization Vayfond. "Mourning for the victims of deportation seems to be receding into the background," she told the "Caucasian Knot" in 2025. People clearly associate events with each other. Few Chechens consider May 10th a day of remembrance for the victims of deportation, political scientist Ruslan Kutayev (included in the register of foreign agents) confirmed to the "Caucasian Knot" in May 2025. "Chechens don't associate May 10th with the deportation because they have a clear association between the events. I haven't seen people outside the regime's control connect these dates or even confuse May 10th and February 23rd," he said. In 2014, Ruslan Kutayev publicly spoke out against the ban on February mourning events. After this, he was convicted and sentenced to almost four years in prison. Earlier, residents of Chechnya told the "Caucasian Knot" that they do not agree to combine the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow with the mourning for Akhmat Kadyrov. "For any self-respecting Chechen, February 23rd was, is, and will be a day of mourning for the victims of Stalin's deportation. Even the Soviet regime, for several decades, couldn't make us forget this tragedy, and our current authorities will be even less able to do so," said teacher Raisa on May 10, 2017. The tragedy of an entire nation cannot be replaced by the tragedy of the Kadyrov family. Grozny resident Abusaid stated at the time that moving this date to May 10th was immoral. "The tragedy of an entire nation cannot be replaced by the tragedy of the Kadyrov family, as is being done now," he said. In 2020, on Defender of the Fatherland Day, a rally in memory of the victims of repression was held in Grozny, attended by Ramzan Kadyrov and other officials. The change in the Chechen leadership's attitude toward the mourning date surprised local residents, and analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" explained that the legalization of mourning for the victims of deportation was a consequence of Kadyrov's strengthening of his position. Representatives of the Chechen leadership also held a small rally in memory of the victims of deportation on February 23, 2021. Ramzan Kadyrov, who left for a visit to Dubai, did not participate. This year, Kadyrov and his cronies did not ignore the 78th anniversary of the deportation of the Vainakhs, but dedicated only social media posts to the date. By order of Stalin, several Caucasian peoples were deported On February 23, 1944, Operation Lentil began, during which nearly 500,000 Chechens and Ingush were deported en masse from the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic to Kazakhstan and Central Asia. More information about these events and their consequences can be found in the "Caucasian Knot" report "Deportation of Chechens and Ingush". The "Caucasian Knot" also prepared reports on the deportation of the Karachays, the Kalmyks, and the Balkars. The Soviet government justified the deportations of peoples with myths about mass betrayal and desertion of their representatives. Under Stalin, mass arrests, deportations, and executions based on ethnicity were carried out, with entire nations declared "hostile," according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "10 Myths About Stalin's Role in the Great Patriotic War." There was no mass support for the German fascists in the North Caucasus, and the Soviet authorities' theory that collaborationism was the pretext for the deportation of peoples is unfounded, historians Pavel Polyan and Pieter van Huis previously pointed out. The historians' arguments are supported by Wehrmacht archival documents analyzed by the "Caucasian Knot," cited in the article "Operation Shamil: How the Abwehr's Failure Became the Pretext for the Deportation of the Vainakhs." The decision on which peoples to target for repression depended directly on Stalin, historian and member of the Association of Researchers of Russian Society Boris Sokolov told the "Caucasian Knot" in 2022. The Chechen authorities demanded that residents stop using the term "deportation," replacing it with "eviction" or "repression." At the same time, analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" noted that the Chechen authorities will not be able to erase the date of the start of the deportation from the people's memory. Years of ruling Chechnya allowed Ramzan Kadyrov to build a total family cult, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "In the name of the father and son: how the Kadyrov cult is being implanted in Chechnya". 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