Putin supported the proposal to build a mosque in South Butovo – Kommersant

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said that Russian President Vladimir Putin supported his proposal to build a new mosque in the Moscow district of Yuzhnoye Butovo. Mr. Kadyrov wrote about this in his Telegram channel.

“I touched upon the topic of building a new mosque on the street named after the First President of the Chechen Republic, Hero of Russia Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov in South Butovo. The head of state emphasized the great importance of this project for believers and noted that the issue of building a mosque should have been raised even earlier,” he said.

According to Ramzan Kadyrov, about 3 million Muslims live in Moscow and “often on holidays, due to the lack of mosques, believers are forced to pray on the street.” The head of the republic added that the new mosque will be located on a street named “in honor of the unforgettable leader of the Chechen people” Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov, in the southwest of the city.

“I am grateful to Vladimir Vladimirovich for such a valuable gift and infinitely grateful for everything he does to strengthen and develop our multinational state,” added the head of Chechnya.

The head of Chechnya clarified that the discussion of the construction of the mosque remained “behind the scenes of the meeting” with the Russian president – this part of the conversation was not included either on television or in the transcript of the conversation on the Kremlin website. Previously, there were no reports about the construction of a mosque in the South Butovo area, and there is no information about this among official documents. The Moscow authorities have not yet commented on Ramzan Kadyrov’s message.

In early April, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated, that the construction site of a new mosque near the Holy Lake was moved to a new site. According to the mayor, its area was also reduced: 2.5 thousand square meters. m instead of 40 thousand sq. m. m. Since March, there have been protests against the construction of a mosque in the Kosino-Ukhtomsky district of Moscow. Ramzan Kadyrov then stated that those who disagreed with its construction acted in the interests of Western intelligence services. Later, the head of Chechnya thanked Sergei Sobyanin for the decision to change the construction site.

Petr Buzlaev