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Situation in Chechnya’s Grozny remains calm despite church attack — leader

On Saturday afternoon, a group of four armed people attempted to break into the Archangel Michael’s Church in the heart of Grozny

GROZNY, May 19. /TASS/. The situation in the Chechen capital Grozny remains relatively calm after a deadly attack on the city’s only Orthodox church on Saturday, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov wrote in his Telegram channel.

"Once again, I state that the overall situation in Grozny was not affected. The situation in the city is peaceful, all offices, organizations, shops are open, public transport operates according to schedule, all streets are open for traffic," he wrote.

On Saturday afternoon, a group of four people attempted to break into the Archangel Michael’s Church in Grozny, located on a busy street in the heart of the Chechen capital. It is a popular tourist site surrounded by shopping malls and cafes. A service was under way in the church at the moment of the assault.

The attackers, who carried smoothbore guns, knives, axes and plastic bottles with inflammable liquid on them, were unable to get inside the building. However, as a result of the attack, two police officers and one civilian were killed, two more officers were wounded. Four attackers were killed.

"A police officer, who was on duty in the church, was the first to be killed. However, as a result of his courageous actions, [law-enforcers] were immediately alerted about the attack," Kadyrov said. "A rapid response group arrived to the scene almost instantly and killed those bandits. There were four of them."

The Russian president’s envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District, Oleg Belaventsev, said the situation in Grozny is under control.

"The situation in Grozny is under control of the Chechen and federal authorities," he said. "We will continue our fight against terrorism at home and far away.".