President Vladimir Putin has fired Chechnya's top investigator after only seven months in the job, a move that the republic's leader Ramzan Kadyrov said was likely justified.
"The Kremlin thoroughly examines these questions before taking such decisions," Kadyrov said on his Instagram account, adding that there must have been important reasons for Monday's dismissal, given that Sergei Bobrov's term still had another 18 months to run.
Bobrov was appointed head of the Investigative Committee's Chechen branch on May 9, but offered to quit a month ago citing personal reasons, Kommersant reported.
However, an unidentified individual told the newspaper that Bobrov decided to leave Chechnya because he couldn't find common ground with local officials.
"There were lots of rumors in the press" surrounding Bobrov, Kadyrov said. "I am not keen to remind you about those rumors or to comment on them."
Bobrov's replacement is yet to be announced.
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