Chechen Culture Ministry Creates Wedding Police

Chechnya’s Culture Ministry has ordered the creation of a special police unit to ensure proper traditions are observed at weddings in the Russian region.

The news agency TASS said a special morality unit will be charged with monitoring wedding celebrations.

“If something is noticed that isn’t in accordance with our mindset or clothing, or if there is improper dancing, it will be halted,” the agency quoted the ministry as saying.

The move isn’t the first time that local authorities have sought to regulate such celebrations, some of which have garnered wide attention for ostentatious displays.

Chechnya’s leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, and other officials have frequently spoken out about foreign influences that they say are undermining traditions in the Muslim region.

In the Chechen town of Argun, officials decreed that wedding convoys -- where a bridal party parades through the streets -- may consist of between three and five cars.

Last year, the mayor of Chechnya’s capital, Grozny, issued an order banning cake cutting and what he complained were “indecent” dance moves at weddings.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Kavkaz.Realii