Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov
(born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician and current

head of the Chechen Republic The head of the Chechen Republic or head of Chechnya (; ; formerly president of the Chechen Republic or president of Chechnya until 5 March 2011) is the highest office within the Politics of Chechnya, political system of the Chechnya, Chechen Re ...

. He was formerly affiliated with the Chechen independence movement, through his father who was the separatist-appointed

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 ...

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

. He is a

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, ...

in the Russian military. Kadyrov is the son of former Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov, who switched sides in 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 ...

by offering his service to

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 ...

's administration in Russia and became Chechen president in 2003. Akhmad Kadyrov was assassinated in May 2004. In February 2007, Ramzan Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as president, shortly after he had turned 30, which is the minimum age for the post. He was engaged in violent power struggles with Chechen commanders Sulim Yamadayev (d. 2009) and Said-Magomed Kakiyev for overall military authority, and with Alkhanov for political authority. Since November 2015, he has been a member of the Advisory Commission of the State Council of the Russian Federation. Kadyrov frequently employs

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public sph ...

and repressive tactics in his rule of the Chechen Republic. Over the years, he has come under criticism from international organizations for a wide array of human rights abuses under his government, with

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

calling the

forced disappearance An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person with the support or acquiescence of a State (polity), state followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate or whereabouts with the i ...

s and

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

so widespread that they constituted

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

. During his tenure, he has advocated restricting the public lives of women, and led anti-gay purges in the Republic. Kadyrov has been frequently accused of involvement in the

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

, and

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activists, critics, and their relatives, within both

and other regions of the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, as well as abroad, through the political use of police and military forces. He publicly denies these accusations. Kadyrov has attempted to portray a hypermasculine image in public, frequently posing with guns and military garb or displaying his wealth and opulence. The Kadyrov family has enriched itself considerably during its rule of the Chechen Republic; the Russian Federation dispenses extensive funding to the Chechen government, while the distinction between the Chechen government and Kadyrov is blurry.

Early life

Kadyrov was born in Tsentaroy, in the Checheno-Ingush ASSR, in the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, part of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He was the second son in Akhmad and Aimani Kadyrov's family and their youngest child. He had an elder brother named Zelimkhan (1974–31 May 2004), and he has two elder sisters, Zargan (born 1971) and Zulay (born 1972). The Q'adarġeran neqe, correspondent to the Kadyrov family in Chechen

kinship In anthropology, kinship is the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of all humans in all societies, although its exact meanings even within this discipline are often debated. Anthropologist Robin Fox says that ...

, belongs to the Benoy teip. Although the Benoy were among the wealthiest of the Chechen teips, their prolonged resistance to annexation by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

was met with

forced resettlement Population transfer or resettlement is a type of mass migration that is often imposed by a state policy or international authority. Such mass migrations are most frequently spurred on the basis of ethnicity or religion, but they also occur d ...

during the last years of the Caucasian War. Kadyrov strove to gain the respect of his father, Akhmad Kadyrov, who was an

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

. He claims that he always emulated his father. In the early 1990s, as the Soviet Union dissolved, the Chechens launched a bid for independence. Akhmad had supported the call for

jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...

against Russians during 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 ...

but switched sides and declared allegiance to Russia in the

. During the First Chechen War, together with his father, Ramzan Kadyrov fought against Russian armed forces. After the war, Ramzan was the personal driver and bodyguard of his father Akhmad, who became the separatist

of Chechnya. The Kadyrovite militia was formed during the First Chechen War, when Akhmad Kadyrov declared jihad against Russia. The family defected to the Russian side at the beginning of the

in 1999. Since then, Kadyrov led his

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 ...

with support from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), including the provision of service ID cards, becoming the head of the Chechen Presidential Security Service. The militia later became known as the Kadyrovites.

Nickname

In Chechen society, Kadyrov is widely known under the nickname "Lyulya". There are claims that this is Kadyrov's childhood nickname.

Political career

Deputy Prime Minister

After his father, the then President, was assassinated on 9 May 2004, Ramzan was appointed as the First

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

of the Chechen Republic on 10 May 2004. When his sister was detained by the

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

police in January 2005, Kadyrov and some 150 armed men drove to the

Khasavyurt Khasavyurt is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Dagestan, Russia. Population: History It was founded in 1846 and granted town status in 1931. During the Russian Empire, the settlement was the administrative capital of the Khas ...

City Police (GOVD) building. According to the city mayor, Kadyrov's men surrounded the GOVD, forcing its duty officers against a wall, and assaulted them, after which they left the building with Zulay Kadyrova, "victoriously shooting in the air." In August 2005, Kadyrov declared that " Europe's largest mosque" would be built in place of the demolished ruins of

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 ...

's shattered downtown. He also claimed that Chechnya is the "most peaceful place in Russia" and in a few years it would also be "the wealthiest and the most peaceful" place in the world. He said that the war was already over with only 150 "bandits" remaining (as opposed to the official figures of 700 to 2,000 rebel fighters), and that thanks to his father, 7,000 separatists had already defected to the Russian side since 1999. When responding to a question on how he is going to "avenge the murder of his father", Kadyrov said: He remained the First Deputy Prime Minister until November 2005.

Acting Prime Minister

Following a car accident in November 2005, in which Chechnya's prime minister Sergey Abramov was injured, Kadyrov was appointed as the caretaker prime minister on 18 November 2005. He immediately proceeded to implement elements of

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

law, such as declaring a ban on

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

and

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

production. In February 2006, responding to the publication of the Mohammed cartoons, he accused the Danes of "spying" and being "pro-terrorist". He also banned Danish citizens from entering Chechnya, effectively banning activity of the Danish Refugee Council, the largest non-governmental organisation working in the region. Kadyrov is quoted as saying, "That cartoonist needs to be buried alive." He was eventually pressed to overturn this decision by

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, a rare example of federal intervention in Kadyrov's rule in the republic.

Prime minister

On 1 March 2006, Sergey Abramov resigned from the position of prime minister and told Itar-Tass news agency that he did so "on the condition that Ramzan Kadyrov lead the Chechen government." This was followed by a decree of Kadyrov forcing women to wear headscarves; he also rejected a federal appropriation of the republic's budget, demanding more money, and called for all federal forces but the border guards to be withdrawn. Kadyrov was appointed as the Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic by Alkhanov on 4 March 2006. Shortly after taking office, Kadyrov approved a project to erect a presidential palace on a plot by the Sunzha River in ruined downtown Grozny. The project, which was also to include a five-star hotel and recreational facilities, was estimated to cost around 1.5 billion

rouble The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are s ...

s ($54 million

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

) to build. Later, Kadyrov called for refugee camps scattered across Chechnya to be closed down, calling the refugees "international spies who are interested in stoking conflict between Chechnya and Russia, who are seeking to destabilise the situation in our region".

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 ...

quoted him as saying that "liquidating the refugee camps will allow us to uncover spies who are working for foreign intelligence services". His cousin Odes Baysultanov was appointed to the position of First Deputy Prime Minister by Alkhanov on 6 March 2006 after being unanimously approved by the Chechen Parliament. On 5 June 2006, Speaker of the Chechen People's Assembly Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov said at a press conference in Moscow that "there is no alternative" to Kadyrov for the presidency; Kadyrov has "exclusive awards in combat, and has made achievements in improving the peaceful life and in

protection. Who could replace him at this stage? Nobody," he said. Later that year, Umar Dzhabrailov, Chechnya's representative in the Federation Council and a close ally of Kadyrov's, urged Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov to initiate a measure calling on Kadyrov to become the republic's president, thereby replacing Alu Alkhanov. The following week, several Russian newspapers reported that a worsening security situation in Chechnya was lessening the likelihood that Kadyrov would replace Alu Alkhanov as the republic's president. Other media, however, reported that Kadyrov continued to strengthen his position at Alkhanov's expense. He was also elected as the Chair of the Chechen Peoples' Assembly in late-October 2006. On 6 December 2006, Kadyrov said that he would seek the prosecution of the commanders of federal military units responsible for the death or disappearance of civilians in Chechnya (specifically Major General Aleksandr Studenikin). In addition, Kadyrov said the war in Chechnya was unleashed not by the Chechen people but by the Russian leadership. Kadyrov's comments may have represented his government's increasing unhappiness with certain figures in Moscow, who were said to be blocking his elevation to the post of Chechen president. In 2006, leaked cables from an American diplomat recounted a lavish wedding attended by Kadyrov in Russia's Caucasus region in which guests threw $100 bills at child dancers, and which had nighttime "water-scooter jaunts on the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

", and a report that Kadyrov gave the newly married couple a "five-kilo lump of gold". On 5 February 2007, Kadyrov said he did not aspire to become the Chechen president; however, he criticised Alkhanov. Kadyrov also claimed the war in Chechnya was ultimately finished, with "all informal armed groups eliminated". Alkhanov, for his part, criticised "the cult of personality and idealisation of one person", a clear reference to Kadyrov, whose enormous portraits are prominently displayed in Grozny.

President of the Chechen Republic

On 15 February 2007, Putin signed a decree removing Alkhanov and installing Kadyrov as Chechen's

acting president An acting president is a person who temporarily fills the role of a country's president when the incumbent president is unavailable (such as by illness or visiting abroad) or when the post is vacant (such as for death Death is the en ...

. On 2 March 2007, following Putin's nomination of Kadyrov as Chechen president, the Chechen parliament approved the nomination. In the following days, serious changes took place in the administrative setup of the republic, affecting both the top- and middle-ranking officials. Former deputy prime minister Odes Baysultanov (a cousin of Kadyrov) was elevated to the vacant post of prime minister. Critics allege that Kadyrov is actively building his own "vertical of power" in the republic, and encouraging nepotism by placing men of his own family (Kadyrov) in all the leading and important positions. A Russian daily, '' Gazeta'', reported that according to a poll conducted by the independent

Levada Center The Levada Center is a Russian independent, nongovernmental polling and sociological research organization. It is named after its founder, the first Russian professor of sociology Yuri Levada (1930–2006). The center traces back its history t ...

, only 33 percent of Russians believe that Kadyrov can be trusted, while 35 percent believed that he cannot. Asked whether they thought Kadyrov could normalise the situation in Chechnya and end the bloodshed there, 31 percent said yes and 38 percent said no. On 14 March 2007, Kadyrov said that human rights abuses were "a thing of the past" in his republic, rejecting new charges of torture made by the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

. Two days later he accused the federal authorities of torturing detainees. On 19 March 2007, Kadyrov vowed to put an end to all remaining guerilla activity in Chechnya within two months. On 5 April 2007, Kadyrov was sworn in as President of Chechnya. He appointed his maternal cousin Odes Baysultanov as the Prime Minister of the republic on 10 April. After the car-bomb attack on Yunus-bek Yevkurov, president of the neighbouring Republic of Ingushetia on 22 June 2009, Kadyrov claimed that the Kremlin had ordered him to fight insurgents there, and during his subsequent visit to the republic on 24 June pledged ruthless vengeance. In late December 2009, Kadyrov claimed that remaining rebels were getting financed by "The West"; "I officially declare this: those who destroyed the

, those who want to destroy the

, they stand behind them". He also suggested that Russia should attack

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

"It's Russia's private affliction; why should we always suffer if we can eradicate this for good?". In early August 2010, Kadyrov had claimed that there were only 70 Islamist militants left in Chechnya. In the same month, he proposed changing the title of ''President of the Chechen Republic'' to ''Head of the Chechen Republic''. On 12 August, he also called upon presidents of all

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...

republics to petition the

State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...

to change their titles, stating that there should only be one president in Russia. The Chechen parliament unanimously approved this change on 2 September. However, Speaker of the Chechen Parliament Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov stated on 4 September that the title will be retained until the end of Kadyrov's term in April 2011. In February 2011, he invited the players of Brazil's

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

winning team to play a match against a Chechen

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

led by Kadyrov. The Brazilian team was named as Brazil XI. In addition,

Ruud Gullit Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a former Dutch Association football, footballer and subsequent manager. Regarded among the greatest footballers of all time, he was also noted for his Utility player#Association football, abili ...

was hired by Kadyrov to train FC Terek Grozny.

Attempted assassination

attempt on Kadyrov and a parliament member Adam Delimkhanov was thwarted on 23 October 2009 by the police. Chechen Deputy interior minister Roman Edilov said the police shot dead the driver of a speeding car loaded with a 200-litre tank after firing warning shots shortly before Kadyrov was to arrive at a construction site. The driver of the car was later identified as a militant leader (so-called Urus-Martan

emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

Beslan Bashtayev). Said-Emi Khizriev, who played a role in organising the attack, was killed by Russian police who tried to arrest him in the Michurin village in

. Khizriev planned and took part in explosions at two gas stations in Gudermes in the spring of the previous year, as well as in an armed attack at a sport club in the city.

Attempts at consolidation of the Chechen nation

As reported by the

Caucasian Knot Caucasian Knot () is an online news site that covers the Caucasus region in English and Russian. It was established in 2001 and Grigory Shvedov is the editor-in-chief."Now, the situation in the republic has stabilized, we witness a steady economic growth, and there's no sense for people to leave. And those who are already abroad, can always come back. We'll help them in every possible way," said Mr. Kadyrov. "All sorts of Emirs and former participants of illegal armed formations, who are now in Europe and whose actions were not aggravated by bloody crimes, have two alternatives: either to come back and serve for the welfare of their homeland, or stay there until the end of their days."

Tsentoroy and Chechen Parliament attacks

In 2010, two large scale attacks were carried out by Chechen insurgents, one in Kadyrov's home-village Tsentoroy and the other on Chechen Parliament in Grozny. The assault on Tsentoroy which occurred on 29 August is considered to have "shattered" the image of Kadyrov's unshakeable rule in Chechnya, as it was the first time in six years that his seemingly impregnable village had come under attack. On 2 September, Kadyrov announced a reward of more than $300,000 for information about each of the insurgency leaders involved in the operation, which Chechen commentators interpreted as an indicator of the government's weakness. Kadyrov also tightened his control over information coming from Tsentoroy by not allowing any of the village's 5,000 inhabitants to leave in the days after the attack. The citizenry were also allegedly under the threat of death not to talk about the siege or the damage inflicted by the rebels. The attack on the Chechen parliament was carried out by three Chechen rebels on 19 October 2010. Kadyrov, dressed in a parade uniform, attended a meeting that was held a few hours after all the buildings of the parliament were declared cleared by the special forces. During the meeting, he apologised to the politicians who escaped unhurt from the attack. Kadyrov vowed to intensify the fight against militants in the republic, calling them "bandits". He also blamed the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

saying they were "harbouring criminals. Why do they shield bandits who have shed blood where there is western democracy? Where is the justice? ... Sooner or later Zakayev, Gakayev, Umarov, Vadalov and other criminals will get what they deserve ... I have no doubt that it was the drunk and alcoholic Akhmed Zakayev and his backers in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and other western capitals. I want to say that they will not achieve anything. The Chechen republic is still standing. It is a peaceful and stable region."

Head of the Chechen Republic

Kadyrov was nominated to a second term as president (now referred to as

Head of the Chechen Republic The head of the Chechen Republic or head of Chechnya (; ; formerly president of the Chechen Republic or president of Chechnya until 5 March 2011) is the highest office within the Politics of Chechnya, political system of the Chechnya, Chechen Re ...

) by

Russian President The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...

on 28 February 2011 and was unanimously elected for a second term by the Chechen Parliament on 5 March 2011. After his election, he stated that he was going to continue the current course of reviving the republic's economy and society. On 8 March, he captained a Chechen football team which included current players of FC Terek Grozny, former players of Soviet Union national football team and former German midfielder Lothar Matthaeus in a match against the team Brazil XI which included ex-Brazilian footballers like Romario, Dunga,

Bebeto José Roberto Gama de Oliveira (born 16 February 1964), known as Bebeto (), is a Brazilian former professional football player who played as a forward. He entered politics in the 2010 Brazilian general elections and was elected to the Legis ...

and

Cafu Marcos Evangelista de Morais (born 7 June 1970), known as Cafu (), is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, right-back. Widely regarded as one of the greates ...

. Kadyrov scored twice during the match but his team lost 6–4 to the Brazilian side. Kadyrov said that he had organised the match to show that Chechnya had recovered from years of separatist conflict. He also said that the Brazilians weren't paid to appear but came out of goodwill and in return for a donation to flood victims in Brazil. Dmitry Medvedev and Ramzan Kadyrov 19 June 2012 09

Dmitry Medvedev and Ramzan Kadyrov 19 June 2012 09

Kadyrov was sworn in as head of the republic on 5 April 2011. In November 2012, he visited

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

to sign intergovernmental agreements. In December 2012, he ordered the closure of the newspaper ''Kadyrov's Path'' after one of its reporters asked Putin a question about the violence once focused in Chechnya spreading to other republics and followed it up by asking about the fate of a local radio station. Kadyrov had reportedly taken a disliking to the question asked by the reporter to Putin. Kadyrov termed former

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (born 9 July 1950) is a Ukrainian politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. He also served as the prime minister of Ukraine several times between 2002 and 2007 and was a member of t ...

's ousting as a "coup d'état" and a deliberate attempt to exert pressure on Russia through Ukraine, however at the same time placed the blame on Yanukovych for the situation in Ukraine. On 28 February 2014, he affirmed his readiness to dispatch peacekeepers and a consignment of humanitarian aid to

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. After the 2014 Grozny bombing, in which ISIL's hand was suspected, he said that he might block internet in Chechnya as anyone could easily find and listen to a sermon by a jihadist. After Kadyrov went on a tirade against ISIL on Instagram for threatening Russia, ISIL commander Omar al-Shishani put a $5 million bounty on him. On 26 May 2015, he announced that he was going to star in a Hollywood thriller titled ''Whoever Doesn't Understand Will Get It'' which will be directed by a director of famous Hollywood films and also feature global film-stars. Kadyrov in July 2015 denied that ISIL had any territory in Chechnya and claimed that they never will. During an interview in October 2015, he suggested that Putin should send Chechen special forces to Syria claiming they will wipe out ISIL in weeks. On 3 December, he promised revenge against ISIL for beheading of Khasiev. On 8 February 2016, he claimed that Chechen special forces had infiltrated ISIL cells. Kadyrov announced on 27 February 2016 that he would step down at the end of his second term, which was set to expire on 5 April. However, he later decided to run in the elections that were to be held that September. Putin appointed him as the acting head of Chechnya until the elections in a decree signed on 25 March. Kadyrov launched his reality show titled '' The Team'' with the first episode being aired by Channel One on 30 June. People from across Russia were invited by Kadyrov to register for the contest. The winner of the contest will go on to become head of Chechnya's Agency for Strategic Development. On 18 September 2016, Kadyrov was re-elected with nearly 98% of the vote. Philip Varychenko, a native of

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, was chosen as the winner of Kadyrov's reality show on 22 November and was appointed as a government aide. Kadyrov visited

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

on 27 November where he met the Deputy

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

Mohammad bin Salman. During the meeting, they discussed Russia–Saudi Arabia relations as well as issues of common interest. He also visited the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

on the same day and met

Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (born 11 March 1961), also known as MbZ, is an Emirati royal and politician who is serving as the third and current president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi since 2022. Mohamed completed his edu ...

, the Crown Prince of

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

. The two discussed friendship, cooperation and strengthening ties. During his visits, he praised

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Salman of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; born 31 December 1935) has been King of Saudi Arabia since 2015, and was Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2022. He is the 25th son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia. He assumed the thron ...

for his "leadership of the

Muslim world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...

and efforts to combat extremism". On 28 November, he stated that veterans of American

special forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

would not be allowed to train security and intelligence personnel at a "tactical city" in Gudermes because "they weren't as good as Russian special forces and there were sanctions against all official structures from the United States." On 29 November, he claimed in an interview with

Asharq Al-Awsat ''Asharq Al-Awsat'' (, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted for its distinctive green-tinted pages. Although pu ...

that only a few dozen Chechens were fighting with ISIL, adding that most of them grew up in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

. He also stated that measures taken by Chechen authorities had been successful in bringing back many young recruits before they reached Syria. During an interview aired on 27 November 2017, Kadyrov stated that he was ready to resign as Head of the Chechen Republic, calling it his "dream" as he found the responsibility to be "too heavy". He announced on 5 December that no Chechen athletes will participate under a neutral flag at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

. After an attack on the Church of Archangel Michael in Grozny on 19 May 2018, Kadyrov stated that he had personally overseen the operation to eliminate the attackers. On 26 September, he signed an

agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus (disambiguation), a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of ...

with Yunus-bek Yevkurov, the Head of Ingushetia, resolving the border dispute between the two Russian republics. The agreement seen as grossly unfair to Ingushestia ignited widespread protests eventually leading to resignation of Yevkurov on 24 June 2019. Kadyrov was given the rank of major general in July 2020, through an executive order of the Russian president. He added on his blog that he had been transferred from Ministry of Internal Affairs to the

National Guard of Russia The Federal Service of Troops of National Guard of the Russian Federation (), officially known as the (),#Official website, Official website is a federal executive body which is responsible for law enforcement, internal security, counter-terro ...

COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia, Kadyrov initially in March 2020 dismissed the spread of the disease as nothing serious. Later, Chechnya imposed strict measures to curb the spread of coronavirus after it first emerged in the republic. In an interview to

Caucasian Knot Caucasian Knot () is an online news site that covers the Caucasus region in English and Russian. It was established in 2001 and Grigory Shvedov is the editor-in-chief.forced to admit their guilt and apologize on live television broadcasts by Kadyrov, though human rights organizations have claimed they were pressured. In April 2020, Kadyrov announced imposition of even stricter measures in Chechnya to curb the spread of the coronavirus. In addition to a night curfew, the government also sealed off all transportation to regions outside the republic. Kadyrov meanwhile also denied that force was being used against those who defied the restrictions. After the Russian prime minister

Mikhail Mishustin Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin (born 3 March 1966) is a Russian politician and economist serving as the current prime minister of Russia since 16 January 2020. He previously served as the director of the Federal Taxation Service from 2010 to ...

criticized heads of Russian regions for overstepping the extent of their powers with the restrictions they imposed, Kadyrov commented that while he did not know if Mishustin referred to Chechnya, goods as well as entry into the republic were not barred. However, entry of non-Chechens into the republic would be banned to curb the spread of the disease. On 15 May 2020, Kadyrov in a live broadcast on the state-run Grozny TV stated that medical workers protesting over lack of

personal protective equipment Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elect ...

(PPE) must be sacked after one such protest occurred in Gudermes, claiming the republic had enough PPE.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

During the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Kadyrov was reported to have been taking part in Russian operations outside

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. In a video he posted on

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

, he called on Ukrainian forces to surrender "or you will be finished". Kremlin spokesperson

Dmitry Peskov Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (, ; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat serving as the Kremlin Press Secretary, spokesman for President of Russia, Russian president Vladimir Putin since 2012.The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' reported that on two occasions when Kadyrov had said he was in Ukraine, he was proven not to be. In one instance, he said he was in

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

at a petrol station and published a photo, but the brand shown in the background,

Rosneft PJSC Rosneft Oil Company ( stylized as ROSNEFT) is a Russian integrated energy company headquartered in Moscow. Rosneft specializes in the exploration, extraction, production, refining, transport, and sale of petroleum, natural gas, and pet ...

's Pulsar, did not operate in Ukraine. On another occasion, Kadyrov posted a video suggesting he was meeting troops in Mariupol, but he hosted a Russian official in Grozny on the same day. On 28 March 2022, President Putin promoted Kadyrov to the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

. On 26 May, Kadyrov threatened

. He was apparently upset by the Polish supply of weapons to Ukraine. On 10 September, upset by the withdrawal of Russian troops in Izium, he called for the declaration of martial law and full military

mobilization Mobilization (alternatively spelled as mobilisation) is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the ...

in Russia. On 22 September, he stated that the 2022 Russian mobilization would not be implemented in the Chechen Republic. On 1 October 2022, Kadyrov called on Russia to use low-yield nuclear weapons in Ukraine, in response to Russia losing the important Ukrainian town of Lyman. Two days later, he announced he was deploying three underage sons, aged 14, 15, and 16, as child soldiers to the front line in Ukraine, a possible war crime. On 5 October, he announced that President Putin had promoted him from lieutenant general to the rank of

. In February 2023, a close ally of Kadyrov, General Apti Alaudinov was reportedly poisoned by a letter laced with toxin.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

in May 2024 cited Russian opposition sources as stating that Alaudinov had gained a positive reputation within the federal government after helping integrate many former

Wagner Group The Wagner Group (), officially known as PMC Wagner (, ), is a Russian state-funded private military company (PMC) controlled 2023 Wagner Group plane crash, until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of Russia's president Vladimir Pu ...

members into the 141st Motorized Regiment following their

rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

, and was favored as a successor to Kadyrov by the defense establishment amid rumors about his ill health. Although both Kadyrov and the Wagner Group leader

Yevgeny Prigozhin Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin (1 June 1961 – 23 August 2023) was a Russian mercenary leader and oligarch. He led the Wagner Group, a private military company, and was a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin until launching a ...

supported each other in verbally attacking the Russian defense establishment during the Ukraine invasion, the Kadyrovites supported the Russian government during the Wagner Group rebellion in June 2023 with Kadyrov accusing Prigozhin of backstabbing. The Kadyrovites however did not engage the Wagner Group, and in August 2023, Kadyrov praised the legacy of Prigozhin. Russian opposition leader Dmitry Gudkov then warned that Kadyrov might suffer the same fate as Prigozhin. Kadyrov stated in May 2023 that Chechnya had sent over 26,000 soldiers, including 12,000 volunteers, to Ukraine, with 7,000 of them taking part in active battles at the time. He offered to send 3,000 more under the command of the Russian Defence Ministry and the Russian National Guard in November 2023. In May 2024, he stated that 43,500 soldiers from Chechnya had served in Ukraine, including 18,000 volunteers, and offered to send additional "tens of thousands" of reservists during a meeting with Putin. Kadyrov on 24 May 2024 suggested the name of former speaker of the Parliament of the Chechen Republic Magomed Daudov for the position of Prime Minister of Chechnya, following the resignation of Prime Minister Muslim Khuchiev. Daudov, known for his loyalty to Kadyrov, had overseen Chechnya's response to COVID-19 and recruitment of Chechens into the Russian military for the invasion of Ukraine. Daudov was approved by the Chechen Parliament on the next day.

Chechen economic recovery and reconstruction

In 2006, the production of Chechnya's industry increased by 11.9%."Темп роста валового регионального продукта к предыдущему году, процент".
Rosstat. Retrieved 5 September 2009. In 2007, the rate of growth was 26.4%. In February 2010, head of the British delegation of the Human Rights Group Lord Judd, formerly "bitterly critical of the Russian authorities for the situation in Chechnya", pointed out a striking change for the better in the Russian North Caucasus republic. Judd said that changes which occurred since his visit as a member of PACE delegation in 2000 were "so overwhelming that sometimes you forget about what happened here until quite recently". According to a 2016 report by Russian opposition leader Ilya Yashin, Kadyrov collected enormous wealth, primarily through theft of federal subsidies for Chechnya. Between 2001 and 2014 Chechnya has received over 464 billion roubles in subsidies, grants and donations with federal subsidies accounting for 80% of the republic's budget (and this does not include funds allocated for infrastructure managed at federal level such as roads). However, the administration of Chechnya is being criticized for spending public funds for their personal benefit—in 2010

noted that "federal funds often do not reach people; we know where they disappear; it is obvious-they are being stolen". For example, the fleet of official vehicles in Chechnya accounts for half of all official vehicles in all Northern Caucasus republics. Public funds are being funnelled through Akhmad Kadyrov Foundation, which—while being registered as a charity—has never produced or published any financial reports as required by Russian law. These violations are ignored by Russian Ministry of Justice, which in many cases has enforced them very strictly against other charities. The foundation operates a building company that services most of the publicly procured infrastructure projects in the republic and also collects a fee from all working citizens of Chechnya, ranging from 10 to 30% of their earnings, raising 3–4 billion roubles per year this way. Kadyrov himself declares annual income of 4.84 million roubles (2015), which is inconsistent with his lavish life-style, luxury vehicles, watches, race horses and mansions. In 2020, Proekt.media published an in-depth analysis of business operations of Kadyrov and Adam Delimkhanov who are allegedly running multi-million dollar businesses in Moscow through a proxy provided by businessman Pavel Krotov.

Policies

Human rights

Kadyrov has been personally implicated in several instances of

and

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

. A number of Chechens opposed to Kadyrov have been assassinated abroad, and several witnesses (including Artur Kurmakaev and Ruslan Khalidov) report the existence of a 300 name "Murder List". Chechens who have been murdered, where Kadyrov's involvement is suspected, include Movladi Baisarov and Ruslan Yamadayev (both Moscow); Sulim Yamadayev (Dubai); Gazhi Edilsutanov, Islam Dzahnibekov, Ali Osaev (Istanbul); and Umar Israilov (Vienna). Kadyrov stated in December 2009 that he had personally helped many of the murder victims and their families and was not their enemy. "I don't want to kill, who did I fight? I fought terrorists. Who did I protect? I protected the whole of Russia so that people in Moscow or St. Petersburg...could live in peace. They accuse me of killing women and children. It's not true." * A mutinied commander, Movladi Baisarov, said that Kadyrov "acts like a medieval tyrant. If someone tells the truth about what is going on, it's like signing one's own death warrant. Ramzan is a law unto himself. He can do anything he likes. He can take any woman and do whatever he pleases with her. (...) Ramzan acts with total impunity. I know of many people executed on his express orders and I know exactly where they were buried". On 18 November 2006, Baisarov was killed in an ambush by members of Kadyrov's police on Moscow's Leninsky Prospekt, about two kilometres from the Kremlin. * On 13 November 2006,

published a briefing paper on torture in Chechnya that it had prepared for the 37th session of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Committee Against Torture. The paper covered torture by personnel of the Second Operational Investigative Bureau ( ORB-2), torture by units under the effective command of Kadyrov, torture in secret detentions and the continuing "

s". According to HRW, torture "in both official and secret detention facilities is widespread and systematic in Chechnya". In many cases the perpetrators were so confident that there would be no consequences for their abuses that they did not even attempt to conceal their identity. Based on extensive research, HRW concluded in 2005 that

s in Chechnya are so widespread and systematic that they constitute

. *

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 ...

, a veteran Russian reporter (murdered in 2006) who reported extensively from Chechnya, claimed that she had received a grainy video footage shot on a mobile phone of a man identical in appearance to Kadyrov, and said that "the clips were the murders of federal servicemen by the Kadyrovites, and also kidnappings directed by Kadyrov. These are very serious things; on the basis of this evidence a criminal case and investigation should follow. This could allow this person to be brought to justice, something he has long richly deserved." On 7 October 2006, Politkovskaya was found shot dead in an elevator in her apartment in Moscow. She was allegedly working on an article revealing human rights abuses and regular incidents of torture in Chechnya at the time of her murder. Some observers alleged that Kadyrov or his men were possibly behind the assassination. Yuri Felshtinsky and Vladimir Pribylovsky ''The Age of Assassins. The Rise and Rise of Vladimir Putin'', Gibson Square Books, London, 2008, ; pp. 248–250 * On 23 October 2006, a criminal case was registered on the basis of the video tape frames published by the ''

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 ...

'' newspaper in Anna Politkovskaya's article. Sergey Sokolov, deputy editor-in-chief of the paper, told the Echo Moskvy Radio that it can be clearly seen in the video as to how "Kadyrov's military forces are beating federal soldiers" with participation of "a man looking like Ramzan Kadyrov". * German human rights group the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV), which branded Kadyrov a "war criminal", has alleged that up to 75 percent of recent incidents of murder, torture,

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

, and

in Chechnya have been committed by Kadyrov's

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

forces. * The

Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

group investigator stated in its report: "Considering the evidence we have gathered, we have no doubt that most of the crimes which are being committed now in Chechnya are the work of Kadyrov's men. There is also no doubt in our minds that Kadyrov has personally taken part in beating and torturing people. What they are doing is pure lawlessness. To make matters worse, they also go after people who are innocent, whose names were given by someone being tortured to death. He and his henchmen spread fear and terror in Chechnya. (...) They travel by night as

death squad A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings, massacres, or enforced disappearances as part of political repression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, or revolutionary terror. Except in rare cases in w ...

s, kidnapping civilians, who are then locked in a

torture chamber A torture chamber is a room equipped, and sometimes specially constructed, for the infliction of torture.

, raped and murdered". * According to the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, many illegal places of detention exist in the Chechen Republic; most of them are run by ''Kadyrovites''. In Tsentaroy (Khosi-Yurt), where the Kadyrovite headquarters is located, there are at least two illegal prisons functioning. One consists of concrete

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

s or pillboxes, where kidnapped relatives of armed Chechen fighters are held

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

while the second prison in Tsentaroy is evidently located in the yard—or in immediate vicinity—of the house of Kadyrov. * The Kadyrovites are often accused of working as a death squad against Kadyrov's enemies. Kadyrov is rumoured to own a private

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

in his stronghold of Tsentaroy, his home village south-east of Grozny. Fields around Tsentaroy are allegedly mined and all access routes are blocked by checkpoints. On 2 May 2006, representatives of the

's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) alleged that they were prevented from entering the fortress.Politkovskaya, Anna (2007) "A Russian Diary: A Journalist's Final Account of Life, Corruption, and Death in Putin's Russia"
Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved on 16 October 2016. * A video leaked out in which armed men, loyal to Kadyrov, displayed the severed head of a Chechen guerrilla (who was killed in July 2006) for public display in the village of Kurchaloi. They mounted the head on a pipe, together with blood-stained trousers and put a cigarette on him. It was displayed for at least a day as they came back a day later to record it again. On 21 September 2005, a similar incident occurred, as published by Memorial as well as Kavkazky Uzel which described "shocking details" of a special operation conducted by forces loyal to Kadyrov. * On 1 March 2007, Lyudmila Alexeyeva, the head of the

Moscow Helsinki Group The Moscow Helsinki Group (also known as the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group, ) was one of Russia's leading human rights organisations. It was originally set up in 1976 to monitor Soviet compliance with the Helsinki Accords and to report to the West ...

rights organisation, stated that Kadyrov was "to blame for kidnappings of many innocent people. Their bodies were found later with signs of torture." * Umar Israilov was assassinated in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

on 13 January 2009. Israilov was a former Kadyrov bodyguard, who cooperated with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', extensively detailing abuses committed by Kadyrov and his associates. Israilov had told Austrian authorities in 2008 that he had been threatened by an agent sent by Kadyrov to drop his lawsuit against the Chechen leader at the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. On 27 April 2010, the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n prosecutor's office announced that they believed Kadyrov had ordered the kidnapping of Israilov and Israilov had been murdered while attempting to escape. According to the investigation, there was evidence that Otto Kaltenbrunner (adopted name of Ramzan Edilov), one of the suspected kidnappers, had been in contact with Kadyrov personally. * On 15 July 2009, Natalia Estemirova, a member of Memorial society, who investigated the alleged abuses by government-backed militias in Chechnya, was abducted and shot to death. Memorial's chairman Oleg Petrovich Orlov accused Kadyrov of being behind the murder, and claimed that Kadyrov had openly threatened her by saying: "Yes, my arms are up to the elbows in blood. And I am not ashamed of that. I have killed and will kill bad people". Kadyrov denied any involvement in the killing and promised to investigate the killing personally. He condemned the killers, and in response to Orlov's accusations, said: "You are not a prosecutor or a judge therefore your claims about my guilt are not ethical, to put it mildly, and are insulting to me. I am sure that you have to think about my rights before declaring for everyone to hear that I am guilty of Estemirova's death."Chechen leader sues rights group after activist murder
, AFP, 18 July 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2009. It was later reported that Kadyrov would be suing Memorial for

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

and

slander Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making wikt:asserti ...

, targeting Orlov personally with his complaint. 1st of May 2017 in Saint Petersburg 65

* Memorial said in a statement on 19 August 2014 that when Kadyrov had lost his mobile phone during a wedding ceremony on 16 August, the police questioned thousands of people who had attended the wedding into early hours of the next morning in an attempt to find it. * A man who criticised local officials and apparently Kadyrov in a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

appeal to the Russian president became a target of many threats due to which he had to flee to the neighboring republic of Dagestan. In May 2016, his house was burnt down by a group of masked men and his family was dragged out, put in a car and were thrown under a bridge. His wife also stated that they threatened the other residents with burning down their houses as well if they reported about the matter to anyone. Later, the Chechen police cordoned off his village in order to hunt him down. Kadyrov's spokesman denied these reports were true. The complainant later publicly apologised to Kadyrov and accused the media of distorting his remarks in his video complaint. He again fled to Dagestan in November 2016. According to human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina, he had to flee after Chechnya's Deputy Interior Minister Apti Alaudinov personally threatened to kill him. * After Memorial's Chechnya head Oyub Titiev was arrested in January 2018 over drug possession, Oyub's supporters claimed the charges were fake and were made-up by the Chechen authorities to suppress criticism of Kadyrov. Kadyrov called Oyub a "drug addict" while criticising those working with human rights activists and warned them off from working in his region. * On 30 January 2020, Imran Aliev, an anti-Kadyrov blogger, was murdered in a hotel in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

. French authorities have identified the alleged killer as a hitman having connections with the Chechen leader and who had travelled with Aliev in a train from

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. * Tumso Abdurakhmanov, a dissident Chechen blogger, was attacked in February 2020, but managed to overpower the assailant, who claimed he had been sent by Moscow. Swedish prosecutors stated that the Chechen government was suspected of being involved in the attack. ''

Dagens Nyheter (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major nationa ...

'' reported on the trial in November, saying the attacker admitted that he was sent by the Chechen government, but had planned to fail. Another arrested suspect denied her own involvement. * On the evening of 20 January 2022, Zarema Yangulbayeva (), the wife of Saidi Yangulbaev, a former judge of the Supreme Court of Chechnya, was abducted in

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

and taken to Chechnya for interrogation. A day later, she was charged with assaulting a police officer. Kadyrov said the former judge's family members would either be in prison or underground and asked the Supreme Court of Russia to "kick out" Yangulbaev from the reserve and " erase his name from the history of the judicial body". Yangulbaev lost his position as a judge in 2015, saying he was forced to do so. Yangulbayeva is the mother of Abubakar Yangulbaev, a Chechen human rights activist and former lawyer for the Committee for the Prevention of Torture NGO. * On 6 May 2024, Abdurakhmanov published a video showing a man burning a car bearing symbols associated with Kadyrov's son Adam in Grozny. Chechen authorities arrested around ninety people from Starye Atagi and Shali in response, with Abdullakh Magomadov being tortured to death in relation to the case while the death of another person was also believed to be connected to it. Authorities also targeted relatives of those arrested.

Rounding up, torture and execution of gay men

Kadyrov has previously encouraged extrajudicial killings of homosexual men by family members as an alternative to law enforcement – in some cases, gay men in prison have been released early specifically to enable their murder by relatives. In April 2017, international media reported that gay men in Chechnya were being arrested, detained and

d as part of a region-wide

pogrom A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...

. Russian president Vladimir Putin said on 5 May that he would personally ask the Russian Prosecutor General and

Interior Ministry An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

to help Kremlin rights ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova check the reported abuse. UK Deputy Foreign Secretary Sir

Alan Duncan Sir Alan James Carter Duncan (born 31 March 1957) is a British former politician who served as Minister of State for International Development from 2010 to 2014 and Minister of State for Europe and the Americas from 2016 to 2019. A member of ...

told the UK Parliament he had been informed of alleged plans to eliminate Chechnya's gay community by the start of the Islamic holy month of

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

, which commenced on 26 May 2017. Chechnya has denied the reports, with its interior minister calling the allegations an "April Fools' joke". Kadyrov's spokesman Alvi Karimov rejected the allegations and described the report in the Russian newspaper, ''Novaya Gazeta'', as "absolute lies and disinformation", basing his denial on the claim that "you cannot detain and persecute people who simply do not exist in the republic. If there were such people in Chechnya, the law-enforcement organs wouldn't need to have anything to do with them because their relatives would send them somewhere from which there is no returning." Vladimir Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also said that there had been no evidence found to support the allegations, adding that he had no reason to doubt Kadyrov's claims that no one under his rule has been persecuted for their sexual orientation. In an interview with

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's '' Real Sports'' aired on 18 July, Kadyrov said, "We don't have those kind of people here. We don't have any gays. If there are any take them to Canada. Praise be to God. Take them far from us so we don't have them at home. To purify our blood, if there are any here, take them." He added that gay people were "not human". Asked about the accusations of systematic torture, Kadyrov said, "They made it up. They are devils. They are for sale. They are subhuman. God damn them for slandering us."

Sanctions

Sanctioned by the UK government in 2014 in relation to

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. On 20 December 2017, the United States imposed sanctions under the Magnitsky Act on five Russian nationals including Kadyrov, accusing him of personal involvement in repression, torture and murder. U.S. officials accused him of heading "an administration involved in disappearances and extrajudicial killings," and that one or more of his political opponents were killed at his direction. He was added to

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

's blacklist which also included a Chechen security official Ayub Kataev along with three other Russian individuals for their criminal involvement in a corruption case uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky. In response, Kadyrov mocked the sanctions on his Instagram account. "A sleepless night is waiting for me." He further stated, "I can be proud that I'm out of favor with the special services of the USA," and added, "In fact, the USA cannot forgive me for dedicating my whole life to the fight against foreign terrorists among which there are bastards of America's special services." President Putin's spokesman

Dmitry Peskov Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (, ; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat serving as the Kremlin Press Secretary, spokesman for President of Russia, Russian president Vladimir Putin since 2012.United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

accusing him of increasing abuses on civilians during the COVID-19 pandemic. His immediate family were also sanctioned. The sanctions also ban him, his wife and two of his daughters from traveling to the United States.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

spokesperson Maria Zakharova told

Sputnik Sputnik 1 (, , ''Satellite 1''), sometimes referred to as simply Sputnik, was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space progra ...

that they will try to impose retaliatory sanctions. Kadyrov meanwhile posted a picture of himself along with firearms, saying, "Pompeo, we accept the fight! What comes next will be more interesting."

Threats to journalists

In 2004, Kadyrov had a conversation with the ''

'' journalist

. One of his assistants said to her, "Someone ought to have shot you back in Moscow, right on the street, like they do in your Moscow". Ramzan then repeated after him, "You're an enemy. To be shot...." He is alleged by some observers to be behind her murder. On 13 April 2020, Kadyrov threatened the journalist Elena Milashina on Instagram for her news article in ''

'' about Chechnya's coronavirus lockdown, stating it was "defamatory". He also criticized the federal authorities for not taking any action saying, "If you want us to commit a crime and become criminals, just say so! One f uswill take on this responsibility and serve his time, as required by law." On

, he later labeled her newspaper "anti-Russian" and a "foreign agent", also claiming it stereotyped Chechens. Milashina had also covered Chechnya's gay purges and had been allegedly attacked on 6 February 2020. She accused the Chechen authorities of orchestrating the attack. Over 100 Russian celebrities and human rights activists, in response to Kadyrov's online threats, called upon the federal government to protect Milashina. Novaya Gazeta was made to delete Milashina's article from its website by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russia, which claimed it was fake news and created a threat to the lives of citizens. Peskov dismissed Kadyrov's threats as an emotional response, saying everyone was on edge due to the coronavirus pandemic.

criticized Peskov's reaction, stating it was "like a stark green light to Chechen officials to act on their threats." On 21 April 2020, the US government funded

stated that it had complained to Russian authorities after Kadyrov had threatened to punish their

bureau chief Aslan Doukaev over an article against his government's restrictive coronavirus lockdown measures against farmers in an online video. The ambassador of United States to Russia, John J. Sullivan, condemned Kadyrov's threats against Milashina and Aslan Doukaev, stating that freedom of press was a pillar of democracy. In a joint statement, French Human Rights Ambassador-at-Large François Croquette and the German Commissioner for Human Rights Policy Bärbel Kofler called Kadyrov's threats against Milashina unacceptable and urged Russia to investigate. Kadydov had personally warned to punish the Georgian journalist Giorgi Gabunia in June 2020, after he had insulted President Vladimir Putin on-air. The State Security Service of Georgia announced the arrest of a Russian citizen on 15 June for an assassination attempt on Gabunia. Georgian media and Gabunia's boss later claimed the assassin was sent by Kadyrov, who denied the allegations and said that if he had sent someone to kill, they would have succeeded. Kadyrov called Gabunia his enemy and said that he should beg for forgiveness by getting down on his knees, otherwise he would continue to remain one. Georgian authorities have neither confirmed nor denied the allegations against Kadyrov.

Social media use

Networks

The number of subscribers to Kadyrov's

social networks A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of meth ...

in 2016 was more than three million people, including three million followers of his

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

account, according to the Chechen leader's press service. It said that he had 500,000 followers on the Russian VK social network, 760,860 on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

, 331,000 on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

and 5,447 on

LiveJournal LiveJournal (), stylised as LiVEJOURNAL, is a Russian-owned social networking service where users can keep a blog, journal, or diary. American programmer Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal on April 15, 1999, as a way of keeping his high school ...

. Besides his Instagram postings, it was said that he had also made almost 5,000 on Twitter and 2,300 on VK. The Russian News Agency TASS said that Kadyrov had been "recognized as the most quoted Russian blogger.""Total Number of Kadyrov's Subscribers on Social Networks Exceeds 3 Million People"
Tass.com (11 September 2016). Retrieved on 16 October 2016. In August 2016, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that Kadyrov had posted nearly 8,000 pictures on Instagram, which made him the online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing, and social networking service's "most prolific political strongman". ''The New York Times'' called Kadyrov's Instagram account "bizarre if strangely compelling", and ''Newsweek'' said it was "flashy".Sharkov, Damien. (23 May 2016
"Putin Ally Kadyrov Takes Aim at John Oliver Cat Segment"
''Newsweek''. In a 2015 article, ''The New York Times'' said that Kadyrov was "Instagram-addicted".Mackey, Robert (20 May 2015

''The New York Times'' The Russian programme director of

said in an October 2016 article in ''The Guardian'' that "even the mildest criticism on social media sruthlessly punished through unlawful, punitive detention, enforced disappearances, cruel and degrading treatment, death threats, threats against family members, and physical abuse of family members." She said that a social worker from a small town in Chechnya made a

WhatsApp WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an American social media, instant messaging (IM), and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make vo ...

recording that went viral among Chechen users "imploring" Kadyrov "to look into the plight of ordinary people pushed below the poverty line" by local officials. The article stated that the woman, with her husband, "found herself hauled into the studio of Grozny TV, the state television and radio broadcaster" to face Kadyrov in person, "to apologise publicly for her lies." A "severe and sweeping repression by the local authorities is designed to remind the Chechen public of Kadyrov's total control," the article claimed.

WhatsApp interventions

In May 2015, Kadyrov gave a stern televised lecture to a group of Chechen men and women who were accused of using the

messaging service to comment on the impending marriage of a local police chief to a teenage girl some three decades younger than him. The wedding had been widely discussed across Russia on reports that the young woman, Kheda Goylabiyeva, was being coerced into marriage with the chief, Nazhud Guchigov. "Behave like Chechens", Kadyrov was reported as telling the assemblage of about a dozen people standing in the marbled courtyard of what appeared to be his government palace. "Honor of the family is the most important thing. Don't write such things any more. You, men, keep your women away from WhatsApp." In its coverage of the incident, ''The New York Times'' reported:

"Lock them in, do not let them go out, and they will not post anything", Mr. Kadyrov said in a video to a sheepish group of men and women who kept their arms folded across their chests and their eyes firmly on the ground during the harangue.MacFarquhar, Neil (20 May 2015
"Chechen Leader's Advice on Women: Lock Them In"
''The New York Times''

In December 2015, a female Chechen

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

criticised Kadyrov in an audio message posted on WhatsApp, after her boss tried to force her to allocate some money from her salary to be collateral for her next month's payment. Three days after posting the message, she appeared on Grozny TV along with her husband, where she was publicly berated by Kadyrov as well as parliament speaker Daudov, presidential administration head Islam Kadyrov and her boss. The couple apologised on live television for her message.

John Oliver

In May 2016, Kadyrov engaged in a brief Instagram dispute with US television host

John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British and American comedian who hosts ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' on HBO. He started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom and came to wider attention for his work ...

. Kadyrov had posted a message on Instagram asking for help in finding his lost cat. The posting led Oliver to make a five-minute segment on HBO's '' Last Week Tonight'' dealing with the cat's disappearance and, according to ''The Guardian,'' Kadyrov's penchant for posting of, for example, "regular videos of his work-outs in the gym", also on Instagram. In addition, Oliver teased Kadyrov "for his propensity" to wear T-shirts bearing the image of Russian President Vladimir Putin. After the show, Oliver posted a photo of himself holding a cat, captioned "@RKadyrov Is this your cat?"Walker, Shaun (24 May 2016
"Fur Flies as Chechen Leader and Comedian John Oliver Clash Over Lost Cat"
''The Guardian''. Kadyrov responded in English, according to ''The New York Times'' along with a doctored photo of Oliver wearing a Putin T-shirt, captioned, in part, "I am tired of jokes. I want to care for cats in Chechnya. By the way, Putin is our leader."MacFarquhar, Neil (24 May 2016

''The New York Times''

Account suspensions

Kadyrov stated that he found his Russian-language Instagram and

accounts were not working on 23 December 2017, and he never received a response from Instagram after sending a request for service support. His English-language Instagram account remained unaffected however. Kadyrov accused them of bowing to pressure from United States after he was sanctioned. He wrote on

in response, "Instagram's move, which still wants to pretend it is independent from officials of Washington is weird." He added, "They wanted to stir my indignation, but were wrong, and this is the only thing which pleases me in actions Instagram and their patrons in the White House are undertaking. I have planned already to quit the network. But I thought I could fail my friends and subscribers, as on Instagram and Facebook I have more than 4 million followers." The Speaker of the

Vyacheslav Volodin stated that the decision by Facebook and Instagram to suspend Kadyrov's accounts violated his rights, stating, "They are afraid of a public conversation and the truth. Such decision cannot be explained in another way… The thing is that to read bloggers in social networks one needs to be their subscribers. By deleting an account, they deprive citizens of their right to know about bloggers' opinion and to communicate with them." Russia's telecommunications overseer

Roskomnadzor The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, abbreviated as ''Roskomnadzor'' (RKN), is the Russian federal executive agency responsible for monitoring, controlling and censoring Russian mass media. ...

on 26 December asked Facebook to explain why they had suspended his accounts. Facebook issued a statement on 28 December that it did so after he was sanctioned by United States Department of the Treasury's

Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Treasury, United States Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade economic sanctions, ...

as these came under trade sanctions.

Other issues

Call to quarantine proceeds of horse race

On 3 November 2009, a horse owned by Kadyrov, Mourilyan, came third in the

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the ...

winning about US$380,000 in prize money. The leader of the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly referred to simply as the Greens, are a Left-wing politics, left-wing green party, green Australian List of political parties in Australia, political party. As of 2025, the Greens are the third largest politica ...

, Senator Bob Brown, immediately called for the

Government of Australia The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national Executive (government), executive government of Australia, a federalism, federal Parliamentary system, parliamentary con ...

to quarantine the prize money until assurances are received as to how the money will be used. Concerns had been previously raised that the Melbourne Cup could be used to launder money by overseas individuals.

Honor killings

In 2009, Kadyrov stated his approval of honor killings of seven women, based on the belief that they were engaging in adultery. In an interview with David Scott of

, he condoned honor killings of homosexuals in July 2017 stating, "If we have aypeople here, I'm telling you officially their relatives won't let them be because of our faith, our mentality, customs, traditions. Even if it's punishable under the law, we would still condone it."

WikiLeaks

On 28 November 2010, the US diplomatic cables leak named Kadyrov as a "starring guest" at some of

's most elaborate weddings, which indicates the political "Caucasus power structure" in these weddings. In 2006, leaked cables from an American diplomat recounted a lavish wedding attended by Kadyrov in Russia's Caucasus region in which guests threw $100 bills at child dancers, and which had nighttime "water-scooter jaunts on the Caspian Sea", and a report that Kadyrov gave the newly married couple a "five-kilo lump of gold".

''Charlie Hebdo'' cartoons

In January 2015, Kadyrov said he would organize protests if a Russian newspaper published the ''

Charlie Hebdo ''Charlie Hebdo'' (; ) is a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. The publication has been described as anti-racist, sceptical, secular, libertarian, and within the tradition of left-wing radicalism ...

'' cartoons, saying "we will not allow anyone to insult the Prophet uhammad even if it will cost us our lives." He also stated that Alexei Venediktov "will be brought to account" after his radio station Ekho Moskvy took a survey of readers on whether to publish the cartoons. Venediktov stated he would ask the authorities to intervene against Kadyrov's threats. During a protest rally against the cartoons attended by hundreds of thousands of people in Chechnya, he accused those backing Charlie Hebdo of using "false slogans about free speech and democracy". After French teacher Samuel Paty was murdered by a man of Chechen descent for showing the Charlie Hebdo cartoons in his class, Kadyrov criticized the attack, but also told people to not provoke the religious sentiments of Muslims. He also criticized French society for provoking Muslims and stated that the country must have a state institution focusing on inter-ethnic and inter-faith relations. After France's President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

defended Paty's actions under the right to free speech, Kadyrov on Instagram accused him of forcing people to resort to terrorism by doing so.

Support for polygamy

Kadyrov supports

polygamy Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...

in Muslim-majority republics in Russia, and believes that Muslims who speak out against the practice are not true adherents to their faith. According to Kadyrov, men legally marrying more than one wife would be more honest than having many mistresses, and would resolve Russia's demographic problem. In April 2018, he stated that all Muslim men are permitted by Allah to have four wives but discouraged having the marriages officially registered. He also denied reports that polygamy would be legalised in Chechnya.

Boston Marathon bombing

After the

Boston Marathon bombing The Boston Marathon bombing, sometimes referred to as simply the Boston bombing, was an Islamist domestic terrorist attack that took place during the 117th annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarna ...

, Kadyrov expressed sadness for the victims but denied the suspects had any ties to his region in a statement on his Instagram. He suggested that the suspects were products of American upbringing. Kadyrov accused the CIA of framing Dzokhar Tsarnaev on 18 March 2015, after he was handed a death sentence for the Boston Marathon Bombing and said that they could not have conducted the bombing without CIA's knowledge.

Threats to opposition politicians

On 31 January 2016, Kadyrov posted a video of Russian opposition politicians Mikhail Kasyanov and Vladimir Vladimirovich Kara-Murza in the crosshairs of a gun on his

blog. In a few days, after multiple complaints, Instagram removed the video prompting Kadyrov to criticize the decision: "This is the much-boasted freedom of speech in America! You can write anything but cannot touch those American dogs, those friends of the Congress and the State Department".

Report by Ilya Yashin

Russian opposition leader Ilya Yashin authored a report against Kadyrov released on 23 February 2016 during a press conference which was repeatedly interrupted by police and hecklers. He also claimed that Kadyrov had murdered

Boris Nemtsov Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov; (9 October 195927 February 2015) was a Russian physicist, liberalism in Russia, liberal politician, and outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin. Early in his political career, he was involved in the introduction of reform ...

. The report titled ''A National Security Threat'' claimed that Kadyrov poses a threat to Russia. It included allegations of corruption, authoritarian rule, secret prisons, rigging votes in favour of Vladimir Putin, stealing from the country's national budget to enrich himself, enforcing

Sharia law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, inta ...

over Russian law, his lavish lifestyle, building and maintaining a personal army of about 30,000 fighters, purported ties to organised crime figures, and his involvement in politically motivated murders of journalists, human rights activists and political opponents. The report contained 20 questions which Yashin had invited Kadyrov to answer but was refused. Kadyrov dismissed the report calling it "nothing but idle chatter" and posted it on his social network accounts before its release. His spokesman filed a request with the Russian Prosecutor General and the Investigative Committee for Yashin to be arrested for the report saying it contained slander and insults against Kadyrov.

Grozny fatwa

In August 2016, Kadyrov convened a conference of Islamic scholars, funded by the Tabah Foundation in the

, in Grozny. The conference was attended by notable Islamic scholars, including the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb; the

Grand Mufti A Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is a title for the leading Faqīh, Islamic jurist of a country, typically Sunni, who may oversee other muftis. Not all countries with large Sunni Muslim populations have Gra ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Shawki Allam Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam () is the 19th Grand Mufti of Egypt through Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah, succeeding Ali Gomaa. He is succeeded by Nazeer Ayyad on the 11th of August 2024, following a presidential decree. Biography Allam was born in ...

; the ex-Grand Mufti of Egypt Ali Gomaa, Osama al-Azhari, who is the religious adviser to Egyptian President

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has been serving as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. After the 2011 Egyptian revolution and 201 ...

; Habib Ali al-Jifri, and the

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, Abdul Fattah al-Bizm. The conference was convened to discuss the alleged abuse of Islamic ideas to propagate extremism and to establish the criteria for determining who are the true followers of the

Sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...

. The assembly of scholars issued a

fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

which declared that those who abide by the

Kalam ''Ilm al-kalam'' or ''ilm al-lahut'', often shortened to ''kalam'', is the scholastic, speculative, or rational study of Islamic theology ('' aqida''). It can also be defined as the science that studies the fundamental doctrines of Islamic fai ...

, belong to the four madhhabs and follow the path of moral self-perfection espoused by distinguished Islamic teachers, primarily the

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

sheikhs, were the only true believers. The fatwa called the sect of

Salafism The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalist Islamic revival, revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" ...

a "dangerous and erroneous contemporary sect", along with extremist groups like the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...

and

Hizb ut-Tahrir Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT; ) is an international pan-Islamist and Islamic fundamentalist political organization whose stated aim is the re-establishment of the Islamic caliphate to unite the Muslim community (called ''ummah'') and implement sharia glo ...

. The conference issued two further documents. In the first, it appealed to President Vladimir Putin to ban Salafism and term any condemnation of "traditional Islam" as "extremism". It proposed the fatwa be regarded as the considered opinion of "leading Russian experts" when evaluating the activity of Muslim organizations and the preaching of individual clerics. The second document issued a resolution calling for the establishment of a Council for Islamic Education and a Council of

Ulema In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

, which would rule on who is and is not a true follower of

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

. The ruling created a controversy, with both Islamic theologians and secular commentators condemning it, with some seeing it as a bid by Kadyrov to divide Russian Muslims into those who accept the importance he places on teachings of the Sufi brotherhoods and likely what he considers to be "traditional Islam" without question, and those who do not, labeled as possessing "erroneous" views. Many of the key participants also disavowed the resolutions. Mukkadas Bibarsov,

Saratov Oblast Saratov Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Volga Federal District. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Saratov. As of the 2021 Russian cens ...

, stated that the question of who was a true follower of Sunni Islam was resolved "centuries ago". He added that the fatwa failed to take into account the crucial differences between Russia's Muslims, specifically that some Muslim communities did not follow

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

. Liz Fuller, writing for

, commented that the fatwa seemed to be giving permission to Kadyrov to take any action he likes to punish those whose religious views do not coincide with his own. Yaroslav Trofimov, writing for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', described it as a "new fracture emerging within Islam". Many Saudi clerics and citizens expressed outrage on social media at the fatwa. The Muslim Brotherhood expressed "deep sorrow" over the fatwa, stating that it "ignited fires of discord among Muslims around the world."

Threats to Russian police officers

In 2015, Kadyrov ordered Chechen security forces to "shoot to kill" if they encountered Law enforcement in Russia, police officers from Federal subjects of Russia, other parts of Russia on the territory of the Chechen Republic. Kadyrov said: "I would like to officially state: Open fire if someone from Moscow or Stavropol—it doesn't matter where from—appears on your turf without your knowledge. We have to be reckoned with. … If you are masters of your territory, then you must control it." According to Ekaterina Sokirianskaia, "Some critics claim that Mr. Putin now fears Mr. Kadyrov because he knows any serious attempt to challenge the Chechen leader's position might lead to a third war."

Mixed martial arts tournament involving child fighters

A mixed martial arts tournament involving children was held as an "exhibition fight" on 4 October during the ''Grand Prix Akhmat 2016'' in Grozny and broadcast on Match TV. Three of Kadyrov's sons, all of them aged under 12, fought in the tournament with Kadyrov sitting in the audience and none of the fighters wearing any protective gear. One of the fights ended with a technical knockout. Kadyrov posted images of the bouts on his Instagram account. The event caused an outcry especially against Kadyrov allowing his children to compete in the tournament. Fedor Emelianenko, the president of Russian MMA Union, criticised the event as "inexcusable", stating that rules stipulate fighters under the age of 21 have to wear protective gear while children under the age of 12 are not allowed to compete. Vadim Finkelstein, the head of MMA promotion M-1 Global backed Emelianenko's comments.

Dmitry Peskov Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (, ; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat serving as the Kremlin Press Secretary, spokesman for President of Russia, Russian president Vladimir Putin since 2012. Several Chechen officials responded to Fedor's criticism with insults and accusations including Timur Dugazayev, general director of Akhmat MMA promotion, State Duma, Member of Parliament Adam Delimkhanov as well as Kadyrov himself. The Ministry of Sports found on 18 October that Kadyrov's promotion had violated regulations. It also found that the event was actually an unlicensed show with no regulatory oversight. The promotion was directed to coordinate with the Ministry of Sports and other regulatory bodies to "prevent such irregularities in conduct" and handed a letter detailing its failure to comply with the legislation.

Comments about nuclear warfare

Kadyrov commented about Russia's Russia and weapons of mass destruction, nuclear arsenal and tensions between the United States and Russia. He said that "America is not really a strong enough state for us to regard it as an enemy of Russia, we have a strong government and are a nuclear state." He added, "Even if our government was completely destroyed, our nuclear missiles would be automatically deployed. We will put the whole world on its knees and screw it from behind." In October 2022, Kadyrov started advocating for Russia to use low-yield nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Persecution of Muslims in Myanmar

In September 2017, Kadyrov condemned the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar and organized a rally in Grozny in support of persecuted Rohingya people. Kadyrov pledged to oppose the Russian Federation's position if it supported Aung San Suu Kyi's government in Myanmar.

Threats to citizens insulting someone's honor

In June 2019, Kadyrov, in an Instagram video, told the citizens of

to not insult Chechnya or Chechens online amidst a controversy over a piece of land of the republic labeled as belonging to Chechnya, threatening to torture whoever insulted the honor of Chechens. He also warned people to remove any such comments, otherwise they would have to answer to Chechen law enforcement agencies. During a government function organized for medium and small-scale businesses in November 2019, Kadyrov called for online users insulting someone's honor to be killed, arrested or intimidated per a BBC Russian Service translation. He stated in the same speech that he did not call for the targeting of law-abiding citizens, but of others, i.e., "crooks, traitors, tattletales and schizophrenics of all stripes." Kadyrov's spokesman, Alvi Karimov, denied the accuracy of the BBC translation; however, ''Meduzas translation found it to be accurate. The speech itself was broadcast on a state-owned TV channel. Russian diplomat

Dmitry Peskov Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (, ; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat serving as the Kremlin Press Secretary, spokesman for President of Russia, Russian president Vladimir Putin since 2012. In 2006, he defended his thesis at Dagestan State Technical University to obtain a Candidate of Sciences degree in economics. In 2015, he defended his thesis at Dagestan State University to obtain a Doctor of Sciences degree in economics. Kadyrov has adopted a macho image where he frequently poses with guns and military garb, and associates with mixed martial artists. In 2022, he was pictured in military garb and $1,580 Prada Monolith boots. ''The New Yorker'' says that Kadyrov has adopted various personalities over the years: "the merciless warrior in fatigues who leads special operations to kill anti-government rebels; the jolly Caucasus baron who spars with Mike Tyson and shows off his private zoo; the family man and observant Muslim who has banned alcohol, ordered that women wear headscarves in public buildings, and boasts that his six-year-old son has memorized the Koran." Kadyrov enjoys boxing and is the owner of Fight Club Akhmat, a professional sports club that focuses on boxing and mixed martial arts.

Family

In 1996, Kadyrov married Medni Musaevna Kadyrova. The couple are parents of twelve children. Two sons, Adam and Eli, have earned the title of ''Hafiz (Quran), hafiz,'' while three daughters, Aishat, Khadizhat and Khutmat, have earned the title of ''hafiza''. Khutmat and another daughter, Ashura, performed together with the nasheed singer Mishary Rashid Alafasy in 2015. Khadizhat was recognised as the most gifted student in Chechnya in 2016 and qualified for participation in the pan-Russian contest "Student of the Year 2016" on 20 February 2016. Medni launched her 'Firdaws' fashion line in March 2012 in Dubai. Aishat presented her own fashion collection in March 2017 and took over her mother's fashion enterprise, Firdaws. She was appointed as the First Deputy Minister of Culture of the Chechen Republic in September 2020 by her father, as the Minister of Culture in October 2021 and later the Deputy Prime Minister for Social Issues in October 2023. Khadizhat was appointed as the First Deputy Head of the Administration of the Leader and Government of Chechnya in January 2024. Adam was appointed as the leader of his father's security team in 2023 and was awarded the "Hero of the Chechen Republic" medal after a video emerged of him beating up a prisoner, which was praised by Ramzan himself, in addition to awards from other republics of the

. ''The Guardian'' reported that this was a signal by Ramzan that Chechnya would continue to be controlled by his family after him. Kadyrov later appointed him as the supervisor of the special forces training school in Gudermes in April 2024. Ramzan appointed his eldest son Akhmat as the First Deputy Minister of Physical Culture, Sports and Youth Policy of the Chechen Republic in November 2023, as the Minister of Youth Affairs in February 2024, and later as the Minister of Physical Culture and Sports in May 2024. He was also appointed as the head of FC Akhmat Grozny in May 2024. According to a 2021 investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Kadyrov has a second wife, Fatima Khazuyeva. Kadyrov reportedly met Khazuyeva when she was fourteen years old at a 2006 beauty pageant. He reportedly also has a third wife, a singer and dancer named Aminat Akhmadova. A documentary and investigation by ''Proekt'' in June 2024 claimed that Fatima was the real mother of Eli and gave birth to him when she fifteen, while Kadyrov also had sexual relations with Zamira Dzhabrailova when she was fifteen and she gave birth to Adam at the age of sixteen. It also claimed that he had relations with several other minors and had a preference for underage girls who were virgins, with an assistant being responsible for procuring them for him. As of May 2024, six out of 23 top positions in the Chechen government were held by Kadyrov's children or their spouses, while five positions were held by distant relatives or those from his birthplace of Akhmat-Yurt. His son-in-law Ramzan Vismuradov served as a deputy prime minister without portfolio, while the First Deputy Prime Minister Isa Tumkhadzhiyev was married to a relative of his.

Wealth

The Russian Federation funnels money to the Kadyrov family; the distinction between the Chechen government and Kadyrov is blurred. In 2015, Chechnya received around 57 billion roubles a year from Moscow (about £550m). The family obtains money through the Akhmad Kadyrov Fund, a non-transparent foundation which describes itself as a charity and is headed by Kadyrov's mother, Ayman. In 2011, the foundation funded Kadyrov's lavish 35-year birthday party, which featured celebrities such as Seal (musician), Seal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Vanessa-Mae and Hilary Swank. When journalist Marianna Maksimovskaya asked him where the money for the live-televised celebration was coming from, he reportedly laughed and said "Allah gives it to us", before adding: "I don't know, it comes from somewhere." Journalists have been targeted by Kadyrov's regime for reporting on his opulence. Kadyrov is a noted collector of sports cars. He owns a Lamborghini Reventón, one of only 20 sold. He is also known for his extensive collection of Chechen daggers. Kadyrov has been linked to the ownership of a private jet. and he claimed to have received from Elon Musk a Cybertruck, though this is not confirmed and has been disputed by Musk himself. Kadyrov's family members own luxurious real estate in Moscow. Two of his wives own property valued at $8 million in total, which is more than twice Kadyrov's declared salary since 2008.

Health issues

Rumors started circulating about Kadyrov's health worsening and him being admitted to the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital in mid-September 2023, with

channels operated by the Chechen opposition claiming that he had suffered a kidney failure and was in a coma. Dmitry Peskov stated that he had no information about his health. Kadyrov soon released videos to counter the rumors, insisting he was fine. Novaya Gazeta Europe claimed in late-April 2024 that Kadyrov was diagnosed with Acute pancreatitis, pancreatic necrosis in 2019 and his condition had recently started worsening, causing the federal government to search for a potential successor. Kadyrov released a video hours later of him exercising in the gym. ''The Guardian'' stated that despite insisting that he was in good health, Kadyrov's public appearances showed him with a swollen face, slurred speech and keeping awake with much difficulty.

Notes

References

External links

*
Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kadyrov, Ramzan Ramzan Kadyrov, 1976 births Chechen Islamists Chechen warlords Deputy prime ministers of Chechnya FC Akhmat Grozny Heads of the Chechen Republic Heroes of the Russian Federation Honorary members of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences Living people People from Grozny People of the Chechen wars People sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act Prime ministers of Chechnya Qadiri order Qutbists Racehorse owners and breeders Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class Russian football chairmen and investors Russian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions Russian individuals subject to European Union sanctions Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions Russian Islamists Russian military personnel Russian nationalists Russian people of Chechen descent Russian Sufis Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List United Russia politicians Chechen people Pro-Russian people of the Russian invasion of Ukraine