Sergey Melikov, the head of Dagestan, ruled out the possibility of changing the borders of the [federal] republic by his decision. Melikov's statement was made in response to alarming sentiments and conflicting assumptions on this topic. 

In July 2020, Melikov recalled, amendments to the country's Basic Law were adopted, which entailed the need to bring the fundamental norms of legislation in the regions, including the Dagestan constitution, into line with the updated Russian Constitution. A process was launched at the parliamentary level after the prosecutor's office of the [Federal] Republic of Dagestan initiated several amendments; a process was launched at the parliamentary level.

"Is it true that the head of Dagestan will not be responsible for the inviolability of the republic's borders? Not! Responsibility for preserving the territory of the Republic of Dagestan and its borders remains in our constitution! This is stipulated, in particular, by Article 57 of the Constitution of the Republic of Dagestan, which remains in force: we independently resolve issues of the administrative-territorial structure," Melikov stressed. 

"The territory of the Republic of Dagestan is united. Its borders cannot be changed without the will of the multinational people of the Republic of Dagestan, says article 57 of the constitution of the republic," he added.

Melikov also explained why the article on territorial integrity was excluded. "According to the Basic Law of the country, full responsibility for maintaining the territorial integrity of Russia and its subjects, as one of the objects of national security, lies with the highest official of our state—the president, and his powers in this regard are exercised by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the Federal Service Security, and the Federal Service of the National Guard Troops," he stressed.

"The norm of the Constitution of the [Federal] Republic of Dagestan, which imposes on the head of the republic the obligation to preserve its territorial integrity, comes into conflict with the Constitution of Russia, forming a conflict, since the issue of the territorial integrity of Russia, including the territories of its subjects, is referred to the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation. Such a discrepancy is legally important and must be eliminated," Melikov said. 

He repeated that the abolition of this norm, which has become legally redundant, does not change the most important thing: "the territory of Dagestan is one; its borders cannot be changed without the will of the multinational people." Melikov noted, "It is surprising that individual citizens who call themselves social activists and allegedly care about the integrity of the republic themselves create the ground for dividing the Dagestanis."

"It has already gotten to the point that our guys from the front line call me and ask if it’s true that I refuse to be responsible for the integrity of the territory of Dagestan. Of course, it is not. And I understand the concern of courageous warriors—defenders and true patriots of their native land. In the absence of arguments, completely absurd conjectures are being used, including about the personnel decisions of the head of Dagestan. However, they are dictated, first, by the expediency of using the professional qualities of a particular candidate. I want to urge everyone who has not fully understood the current situation and makes unfounded claims: does not engage in self-PR, does not mislead the Dagestanis, do not escalate the situation," Melikov concluded.

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