Thousands of people in Grozny took to the streets on Tuesday to rally against a recent burning of the Quran. Photo: Yelena Afonina / TASS

Wed 24 May 2023:

Thousands of people marched to the streets of Grozny, regional capital of Chechnya, on Tuesday to protest the recent burning of the Quran.

Nikita Zhuravel, 19, was detained by police in the southwestern Russian city of Volgograd after reportedly setting fire to a copy of the Quran in front of the city’s mosque over the weekend.

Chechen investigators have since taken over a criminal case against Zhuravel on grounds of offending the sensibilities of religious people.

According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, Zhuravel confessed to having acted in exchange for a 10,000-ruble ($125) payment from Ukraine’s security agencies.

His confession could not be verified.

FSB shows footage of detainee for burning Quran in Volgograd

The burning of the Quran in Volgograd took place at the direction of the special services of Ukraine for 10 thousand rubles, the detainee said during interrogation.
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Some 10,000 believers reportedly took part in Tuesday’s protest at the Heart of Chechnya mosque in central Grozny.

Speaking at the rally, the region’s chief mufti Salah Mezhiev called the Quran burning “a crime against Islam, against humanity, tolerance, an action that goes beyond all moral and ethical limits.”

Chechen leader slams Quran-burning

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said the recent incident, in which a man burned a copy of the Quran in front of a mosque in the Russian Volga area city of Volgograd at the behest of Ukrainian special services, was outrageous and infuriated Russia’s Muslim community.

“An outrageous incident organized by Ukrainian special services, in which the Quran was burned in Volgograd, infuriated the Muslim community. Around 60,000 people gathered in Grozny to express their indignation by this sacrilegious act and to express their firm stance,” Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.

“By organizing this shameless provocation in Volgograd, Ukrainian special forces and their Western patrons have only invigorated our determination to crush [them],” he continued. “The West wanted to cause a quarrel among the peoples of Russia, but it did just the opposite. We now hate them even more, and will make Western mercenaries feel our anger.”

“There should be no peace talks with those worshippers of the satan. All peace talks are ruled out until those rabble-rousers kneel down, repent and apologize to the entire Islamic world,” Kadyrov added.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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