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Kadyrov Threatens to Delete Instagram Account

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has threatened to delete his Instagram account after engaging in a heated discussion with users of the photo-sharing application.

"I don't understand my followers. First, you say that we must fight corruption and punish all bribe-takers, but when you see real action on this issue, you condemn the person who revealed the illegal actions," he wrote on Instagram on Thursday.

"I think that it's better to delete Instagram and work without bearing in mind your views on various issues," Kadyrov added, calling users' comments "complete babble."

Instagram users were incensed when Kadyrov posted a photo on Tuesday of himself alongside Bekkhan Ibragimov, who was sentenced to more than five years prison in 2010 for the killing of Spartak Moscow football fan Yury Volkov.

Ibragimov was only freed on parole in early May.

Kadyrov was unaware that Ibragimov was a convicted of the Spartak fan killing, his spokesman said, pointing out that Ibragimov had met with Kadyrov to inform him about the corrupt behavior of local migration officials.

In March, less than a month after registering on Istagram, Kadyrov talked it up as an effective way of solving pressing social issues in the North Caucasus republic.

As of Friday, he had more than 135,000 followers.

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