Russian Authorities In North Caucasus Deny Mass Regional Troop Redeployment

The leader of Russia’s Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, has denied reports of a massive redeployment of Russian Interior Ministry troops from Chechnya to the neighboring region of Daghestan.

Daghestani officials have also rejected Russian media reports saying some 25,000 troops would be relocated from Chechnya to Daghestan.

The previous day, on March 19, Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev announced on March 19 that some Interior Ministry troops would be moved from Chechnya to Daghestan due to what he called the "urgent criminal situation in some regions of Daghestan."

He gave no details about the number of forces that would be coming to Daghestan or what actions they intended to take.

Daghestan and other areas of the Russian North Caucasus see frequent violence in the regional conflict between security forces and suspected Islamist militants.

With reporting by Interfax and Itar-TASS