Chechnya wants to rename war-ravaged capital

Chechnya’s parliament today asked the Kremlin to rename the war-ravaged provincial capital after the late Moscow-backed Chechen president who died in a rebel bombing.

The parliament voted unanimously to ask Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to rename Grozny to Akhmad-Kala, in the memory of Akhmad Kadyrov who was killed in a bomb blast in a Grozny stadium in May 2004.

Grozny was founded by the Russians as a fortress when they conquered Chechnya in the 19th century.

Chechnya’s parliament speaker Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov said that the capital’s name raises dark associations with most of Chechens.

“The darkest pages of the Chechen people’s history are linked with the city’s name,” he said, according to the Interfax news agency.

The Chechen capital has suffered a devastating damage in two wars in the region in a decade, drawing broad comparisons to Stalingrad.

During a brief visit to Chechnya on Monday, Putin pledged to help rebuild the city.