Tight control is said to have picked up the vaccination rate in Chechnya

We are received as an official delegation in the village of Kenhi, about 100 kilometers south of the capital Grozny.

And it's not just local doctors or regional government officials in place. 

A policeman goes heel to heel.

For them, our visit is significant.

They will have to show why Chechnya has succeeded so well in fighting the corona pandemic.

The management praised

- The majority of the population is vaccinated.

Of course, it is thanks to the management, Ramzan Kadyrov, that people are vaccinated because they want to, says Muslim Meshaev, chief physician in the village of Kenhi.

We know we're being watched.

And the interviewees are carefully selected.

The vaccination rate in Chechnya is said to have increased significantly in the past year.

Chechen authorities state that the figure is up to over 90 percent.

- In the first place, it is due to the strong vertical division of power.

The people have a great respect for authorities.

There are many years of effort behind it.

The level of discipline is higher than in other regions of the Russian Federation, says Chechnya's Minister of Health Elchan Suljemanov to SVT.

A doctor in Grozny thanks those in power for handling the pandemic.

- It is to the credit of our authorities that the virus does not spread as in other countries, we thank our Ministry of Health for that, says Milana, Kadahadzijeva.

Claims zero cases

Back to the village of Kelhi, and the Chechen countryside. 

It is difficult to verify those in power's claims that no one has contracted covid in recent times, but according to the region's chief physician, human isolation and harsh rule have contributed to Chechnya's well on its way to defeating the pandemic.

- In the region, we do not have a single person who is ill right now.

In September we had two cases.

We imposed quarantine and everything became normal.

Now we do not even have anyone who is infected, says chief physician Achmed Sulamov, who is responsible for the largest hospital in the region. 

Data from the independent site Govgov.ru gives a different picture of the situation.

560,000 people are said to be fully vaccinated, which only corresponds to 37.9 percent of the population.