Akhmat-Khadzhi Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov (23 August 1951 – 9 May 2004) was a Chechen politician and revolutionary who served as Chief

Mufti A mufti (; , ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...

of the

Chechen Republic of Ichkeria The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria ( ; ; ; abbreviated as "ChRI" or "CRI"), known simply as Ichkeria, was a ''de facto'' State (polity), state that controlled most of the former Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Checheno-Ingus ...

in the 1990s during and after the

First Chechen War The First Chechen War, also referred to as the First Russo-Chechen War, was a struggle for independence waged by the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria against the invading Russia, Russian Federation from 1994 to 1996. After a mutually agreed on treaty ...

. At the outbreak of the

Second Chechen War Names The Second Chechen War is also known as the Second Chechen Campaign () or the Second Russian Invasion of Chechnya from the Chechens, Chechen insurgents' point of view.Федеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 19 ...

he switched sides, offering his service to the Russian government, and later became the President of the Chechen Republic from 5 October 2003, having acted as head of administration since July 2000. On 9 May 2004, he was assassinated by Chechen Islamists in

Grozny Grozny (, ; ) is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 328,533 — up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Russian Census, 2002 ce ...

, by a bomb blast during a

Victory Day Victory Day is a commonly used name for public holidays in various countries, where it commemorates a nation's triumph over a hostile force in a war or the liberation of a country from hostile occupation. In many cases, multiple countries may ob ...

memorial parade. His son,

Ramzan Kadyrov Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician and current head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated with the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Chechen independence movement, through his father who was the ...

, who led his father's militia, became his successor in March 2007 as the President of the Chechen Republic.

Early life

Akhmat Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov was born in Karaganda in the

Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Kazakhstan, the Kazakh SSR, KSSR, or simply Kazakhstan, was one of the transcontinental country, transcontinental Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Un ...

on 23 August 1951 to a Chechen family that had been expelled from Chechnya during the deportation of the Chechens and Ingush. In April 1957, his family returned to Shalinsky District of the

Chechen-Ingush ASSR When the Soviet Union existed, different governments had ruled the northern Caucasus regions of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Within the Mountain Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic, later annexed into the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Repub ...

. In 1980, he started studying Islam at Mir-i Arab Madrasah in

Bukhara Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...

, and followed by studying at Islamic University in

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

Uzbek SSR The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (, ), also known as Soviet Uzbekistan, the Uzbek SSR, UzSSR, or simply Uzbekistan and rarely Uzbekia, was a union republic of the Soviet Union. It was governed by the Uzbek branch of the Soviet Communist P ...

, from 1982 to 1986. In the early 1990s, he returned to Chechnya, and founded the Islamic Institute in the village of Kurchaloy. Following the Chechen

declaration of independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

, he became a supporter of the president Dzhokhar Dudayev. Kadyrov fought prominently in the

on the Chechen side as a

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

commander. In 1995, he was appointed Chief

of the

and correspondingly Chairperson of the Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of the Chechen Republic. Following the outbreak of violence between Moscow and Chechen separatists, Kadyrov reportedly declared that "There are a million Chechens, and 150 million

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

. If every Chechen kills 150 Russians, we will win." He later denied that, noting that he urged to kill as many Russians as possible.

Second Chechen War

While the first war was mainly fought for nationalism, after the ''de facto'' independence of Chechnya, much of the Chechen forces by 1999 were jihadists, such as the Chechen Mujahideen. Kadyrov, as Chief Mufti, was critical of

Wahhabism Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to oth ...

, to which many of the foreign fighters adhered. Early in 1999, Kadyrov gave a speech before the armed militia telling them that the nation was behind them, that the recent outbreak of violence was the fault of Christian and foreign involvement, and that they should continue on fighting with persistence and trust. But by the autumn of 1999, Kadyrov – a leading figure in the resistance movement – decided to abandon the insurgency and offered his support to the Russian federal forces in the

. Aslan Maskhadov immediately fired him from the Chief Mufti chair, although this decree was never accepted by Kadyrov, who abdicated himself a few months later due to his civilian chairman career. According to James Hughes, Kadyrov's U-turn may have been motivated partly by personal ambition and partly by a concern with the desperate condition of the Chechen population, and was also driven by a fear of the growing sectarian Wahhabi influence on the insurgency. After the Russian forces seized control over Chechnya in June 2000, Kadyrov was appointed head of the administration of the Chechen Republic by the Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

, an interim transitional office until a Constitution is applied, which was the predecessor office to the future office of the President of the Chechen Republic. On 5 October 2003, he was elected the first President of the Chechen Republic. In this position, he remained mainly pro-Moscow. He also advocated numerous amnesty campaigns for former rebel fighters, who were allowed to join Chechen police and loyalist militia forces if they surrendered. His chief personal bodyguard was Movladi Baisarov. Reportedly, there were at least a dozen assassination attempts against him before the final one.

Personal life

Kadyrov had four children, two daughters (Zargan and Zulay) and two sons. His eldest son, Zelimkhan Kadyrov, died on 31 May 2004. His younger son,

, led his father's militia and was appointed prime minister and president of Chechnya in March 2007.

Death and legacy

Dmitry Medvedev and Ramzan Kadyrov 19 June 2012 10

On 9 May 2004, an explosion ripped through the VIP seating at the Dinamo football stadium during a mid-morning Soviet Victory Day

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

in the capital city of

, instantly killing Kadyrov. Two of his bodyguards, the Chairman of the Chechen State Council, a

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

journalist, and a dozen others were also killed (a later report stated that more than 30 people had died). Some 56 others were wounded, including

Colonel General Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

Valery Baranov, the commander of Russian forces in Chechnya, who lost a leg in the explosion. The bomb was said to have been built into the concrete of a supporting column during recent repairs. The Islamist Chechen rebel leader

Shamil Basayev Shamil Salmanovich Basayev (; ; 14 January 1965 – 10 July 2006), also known by his '' kunya'' Abu Idris, was a Chechen guerrilla leader who served as a senior military commander in the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He held the rank ...

later claimed that he had paid $50,000 for the attack. Both the Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque in Grozny, and the Akhmat Haji Kadyrov Mosque in the village of Abu Ghosh in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

are named after him. On 7 June 2017, the football club Terek Grozny was renamed to Akhmat Grozny in Kadyrov's honour.

Notes

References

External links

Akhmad Kadyrov: Had I been the dictator of Chechnya
by

Anna Politkovskaya Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (; 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russians, Russian investigative journalist who reported on political and social events in Russia, in particular, the Second Chechen War (1999–2005). It was her repor ...

, ''

Novaya Gazeta ''Novaya Gazeta'' (, ) is an independent Russian newspaper. It is known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs, the Chechen wars, corruption among the ruling elite, and increasing authoritarianism i ...

'', 22 March 2002
Obituary: Akhmad Kadyrov

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 9 May 2004
Obituary Akhmad Kadyrov, Chechen president widely seen as Moscow puppet
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 10 May 2004
Obituary in brief: Akhmad Kadyrov, president of Chechnya
''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'', 19 May 2004
Russian documentary
with video of last moments and explosion (in Russian, YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kadyrov, Akhmad 1951 births 2004 deaths Assassinated Chechen politicians Chechen field commanders Chechen Islamists Chechen warlords Heroes of the Russian Federation People from Karaganda People murdered in Russia People of the Chechen wars Politicians of Ichkeria Heads of the Chechen Republic Heads of the federal subjects of Russia who died in office Russian imams Russian Islamists Russian Muslims Russian people of Chechen descent Russian Sufi religious leaders Russian Sufis Terrorism deaths in Russia Unsolved murders in Russia European politicians assassinated in the 2000s Politicians assassinated in 2004 Tashkent Islamic Institute alumni