Few Chechens dare criticise their leader in public, and those who do risk being bullied into submission – or worse.

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But earlier this month Ayshat Inayeva, a social worker from the village of Gvardeyskoye, braved the consequences and recorded an angry audio message directed at the authoritarian Chechen president, Ramzan Kadyrov, asking why he forced ordinary people to endure such tough conditions.



She posted a two-minute audio message to WhatsApp, complaining of having to pay 3,000 roubles (£28) from her salary each month as collateral towards her utility bill.

Laying the blame on Kadyrov, Inayeva said: “What do you want from us? You are not even letting us bring our salary home. Are you the only one who ought to eat? Are you the only one who ought to drink? Are you the only one who has the right to live?”

I am not going to punish you, I just want you to explain to the people and me how do I show off? Ramzan Kadyrov

The message was shared widely on social media and three days later she was invited to appear on government-run TV, supposedly as an opportunity to address the “Padishah” (a superlative meaning “Great King”, often used to refer to Kadyrov), on 18 December.

A video of the encounter posted on YouTube shows the social worker and her husband on a golden sofa alongside parliament speaker Magomed Daudov, presidential administration head Islam Kadyrov and the Chechen leader himself.

Inayeva’s husband, Magomed Idigov, quickly apologises for her behaviour, saying he blames himself for not keeping an eye on his wife and letting her spread such “lies”.

“I don’t know what [devil] possessed her. That is what happens when our people listen to those abroad who denigrate our Chechnya and our Padishah,” he says.

Kadyrov appears wearing a sweatshirt decorated with the images of his assassinated father (former Chechen leader Akhmad Kadyrov), a mosque, and a motivational quote. He is seen hectoring her at length, using words like “extremism” and “Wahhabism”.

“I am not going to punish you, I just want you to explain to the people and me how do I show off?” asks Kadyrov, who routinely posts photos to his Instagram account of him beating underlings in mixed martial-arts fights, hosting celebrities and other high-profile visitors, and cavorting with his collection of exotic animals.

Backstage

Inayeva remains silent in the segment, while Kadyrov and his aides take turns lecturing her on where the state budget goes – towards new childcare centres, roads, power lines and water pipes, they say.

A state TV presenter also addresses the social worker. “In her so-called address to the head of Chechnya, she asks: ‘Why don’t you care about common people?’ She seems to have forgotten that at her personal request Ramzan Kadyrov laid a kilometre-long gas pipeline to her house,” the anchorman says.

Later, in a televised “backstage” moment, Inayeva is filmed saying she can no longer explain why she recorded the message and claims to be completely satisfied with Kadyrov’s government.

“Not once in the past seven years have the salaries of either myself or my husband been delayed,” she tells the camera crew. “We never made big mistakes in life, but how I could say such a thing, I don’t even know. I am guilty under the gaze of Allah, the people, my husband, and the Padishah.”

Inyaeva has since returned to work, according to RFE/RL’s North Caucasus Service. “She is alright. Nobody is after her... She continues to work for us,” her boss, Aza Dzankhotova, told the site Caucasian Knot. “As for firing her, I haven’t thought of that yet.”

A version of this article first appeared on RFE/RL