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Both Wikitravel and Wikivoyage warn about the dangers of being kidnapped if you visit Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. Wikivoyage has this wording:

Rebels often take tourists as hostages, so try to blend in with the population.

I knew a guy from Grozny a few years ago when I was working in a hostel in Tbilisi Georgia and he was always telling me how safe it is there these days with Kadyrov in control and being good buddies with Putin.

While I'm sure it's not safe like Japan, it does seem that the articles have stagnated and are not kept up to date, like many other pages on those sites for places western tourists don't commonly visit.

So what is factually available to us such as recent reports in the news or official or unofficial statistics just regarding kidnapping in Grozny in recent years?

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  • 2
    You do not worry my frrriend, come it is good here. – Nean Der Thal May 18 '15 at 17:28
  • The official UK advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/russia/terrorism says "There is a history of kidnapping in the North Caucasus region and westerners have been particularly vulnerable." – Calchas May 18 '15 at 22:31
  • @Calchas: Yeah pretty much the same as WikiTravel/Voyage. – hippietrail May 19 '15 at 4:39
  • It is important to realize that for all practical purposes, Chechnya does not operate like a part of Russia. While it is a part of Russia on paper, for all practical purposes it operates as a separate totalitarian dictatorship within Russia's borders, so any "normal" mechanisms that would protect your well-being and safety within Russia will not apply. If you have a spare half hour, take a look at youtube.com/watch?v=krXLTNNeNZs – Eugene O Jun 27 '15 at 0:52
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It's complicated.

As for the "good buddies" thing, the relationship got better in a certain way, due to Kadyrov allowing his countrymen to go fight in Ukraine. On the other hand, certain tensions arise: e.g. several weeks ago some cops from another region killed a suspect in Chechnya, after which Kadyrov declared that any non-Chechen policeman may be fired upon if he doesn't warn local authorities.

So... most likely, local police will do their best to protect any foreigner in order to avoid a scandal. Kidnappings aren't likely to occur in Grozny itself, but rather in remote villages. But things may change any moment.

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  • Quite right. Didn't answer by myself because I think that I don't have a whole picture. – VMAtm May 23 '15 at 14:40
  • Frankly speaking, I live in Moscow and don't have first person knowledge of what happens in Chechnya nowadays. So your picture is likely to be as good as mine. If somebody from Grozny shows up, his or her opinion would have more value. – IMil May 24 '15 at 22:33

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