Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov says he wants to quit his job but needs Putin's permission
Ramzan Kadyrov said he's asked Putin to be allowed to step aside as Chechen leader.
Kadyrov has previously hinted at the move, citing his long rule.
Possible successors include Muslim Khuchiev and Apti Alaudinov, a general active in Ukraine.
Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov said he has appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to be allowed to step down from his position as leader of the Chechen Republic.
"I am asking to be dismissed from my post," Kadyrov told state-controlled Chechnya Today on Monday, per The Kyiv Independent's translation.
"I hope that my request will be supported," he added.
Kadyrov followed up his remarks on Tuesday with a post on Telegram saying that the decision on whether he would step down is Putin's, not his, and framing himself as a loyalist who responds only to the president's command.
Kadyrov has nurtured a reputation as a strongman since taking power in 2007, heading up a militia known as the Kadyrovites, who have been deployed to Ukraine and in the defence of the Russian region of Kursk.
He secured a fourth term as Chechnya's president in 2021, taking 99.73% of the vote in a bid that was all but guaranteed by Putin's endorsement, Human Rights Watch said at the time.
Kadyrov took over the presidency from his father, who was assassinated in 2004, and last month named his 17-year-old son Adam as state head of internal affairs, overseeing the republic's police and internal security.
Kadyrov said the decision on whether he steps down rests with Putin.
Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via Reuters
Kadyrov has floated the idea of stepping down in the past. In 2022, he posted on Telegram saying he had been in office too long and deserved a vacation. He made similar remarks as his second term approached its end in 2016, Russian media reported.
The latest move comes amid reports of ongoing ill-health that Kadyrov has denied several times, and that stand in contrast to his image as a strongman and fighter.
According to independent investigative outlet Novaya Gazeta Europa, Kadyrov was diagnosed with pancreatic necrosis in 2019, which was then complicated by a bout of COVID-19.
Should Putin give Kadyrov the nod to step down, possible successors include Muslim Khuchiev, the republic's former prime minister, and high-ranking general Apti Alaudinov, who has been on active duty in Ukraine.
Kadyrov maintains an iron grip on power in Chechnya in an arrangement widely understood to have been secured by promising Putin to keep it within the Russian Federation and to suppress a separatist movement.
The Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Russia bombs Kharkiv day after deadly overnight attack, killing 1, injuring 18
Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated. Russia attacked the city of Kharkiv with KAB guided bombs the evening of June 7, killing one woman and injuring at least 18 people. The bombing follows a night of deadly Russian strikes against the city. Russia launched drones, missiles, and guided bombs at Kharkiv overnight on June 7, killing at least three people and injuring 19, including two children. Rescuers were still searching for the bodies of six victims believed to be trapped under the rubble on the afternoon of June 7, according to the regional prosecutor's office. At around 5:30 p.m. local time, Mayor Ihor Terekhov warned that Kharkiv was again under attack from guided aerial bombs. Russia launched four KAB bombs at central Kharkiv, targeting the city's Shevchenkivskyi and Kyivskyi districts, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported after the attack. One of the bombs hit the Children's Railway, a popular gathering place for families. A 30-year-old woman was killed in the attack, Syniehubov said. Another 18 people were injured, with three in serious condition. The woman who as killed was an employee of Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia), according to Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, board chair of Ukrzaliznytsia. Four other railway employees were among the injured. The Children's Railway in Kharkiv was closed at the time of the attack, Pertsovskyi said. The opening had been canceled because of security risks. "(T)he opening was canceled, so there were no students or visitors on site and they are safe! It's scary to imagine what would have happened otherwise," he wrote. The attacks damaged two buildings and four cars at the Children's Railway, two homes, and a farm building, according to Syniehubov. Emergency responders are still at work on the scene. President Volodymyr Zelensky called the bombing a "brutal" attack and offered his condolences to the victims, noting that Russian strikes "have been hitting our city of Kharkiv all day long." Zelensky rejected the idea that Russia's bombardments are a "response" to Operation Spiderweb, Ukraine's daring mass drone strike that struck military aircraft at four Russian air bases on June 1. Russia's only aim is destruction, the president said. "In more than 11 years of Russia's war against Ukraine, they have brought only one new thing to our land, and this is really the most widespread Russian product — ruins and death." The previous night, Russia struck civilian targets across Kharkiv, including an apartment building. The attack killed three and injured 19, including a 1-month-old baby. Extensive search-and-rescue operations were underway following the strike. The attack on Kharkiv came the night after Russia launched a large-scale drone and missile attack across Ukraine on June 6. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed the strike was a response to Operation Spiderweb — despite Russia's history of mass aerial attacks on civilian targets throughout the full-scale war. U.S. President Donald Trump echoed the narrative the day after the attack, saying the attack on military aircraft gave Russian President Vladimir Putin "a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them." Kharkiv Oblast in northeastern Ukraine suffers frequent Russian assaults due to its vulnerable front-line position. The city of Kharkiv has regularly come under fire, with Russian drones and missiles targeting residential buildings in densely populated neighborhoods. Read also: Operation Spiderweb 'gave Putin a reason to bomb the hell out of them,' Trump says, following large-scale attacks on Ukrainian cities We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Three dead as Ukraine hit with third-straight day of overnight attacks
June 7 (UPI) -- A Russian missile and drone attack in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early Saturday killed at least three people and injured more than 20 others, officials have confirmed. Mayor Ihor Terekhov called the attacks in the country's second-largest city "pure terror," as Ukraine faced overnight bombardment for the third straight day. At least four people died and more than 50 were injured during overnight missile and drone attacks early Friday morning that marked one of Russia's largest aerial assaults of the year, involving almost 500 drones. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Friday attacks affected nearly the entire country. Kharkiv faced "at least 40 explosions" during the overnight attacks, Terekhov said on his Telegram social media account. "Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the start of the full-scale war," Terekhov wrote. "The enemy is striking simultaneously with missiles, (drones) and guided aerial bombs. This is outright terror against peaceful Kharkiv." A 14-year-old girl and a boy under the age of two were among those injured in the latest Russian attacks carried out by over 50 drones and four guided aerial bombs, the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. Ukrainian officials said 18 apartment buildings and an additional 13 residential buildings were damaged in the attacks. "The strikes achieved their objectives. All designated targets were destroyed," Russia's Defense Ministry wrote on Telegram. The attacks came as the two countries were set to carry out a prisoner exchange that would see hundreds of soldiers on both sides repatriated, including the bodies of thousands of those killed in the conflict. Russian officials on Saturday said Ukraine "unexpectedly postponed both the acceptance of bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war for an indefinite period," following the latest round of attacks.
UPI
an hour ago
- UPI
Three dead as Ukraine hit with third-straight day of overnight attacks
A Russian missile and drone attack in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early Saturday killed at least three people and injured more than 20 others, officials have confirmed. Photo by Sergey Kozlov/EPA-EFE June 7 (UPI) -- A Russian missile and drone attack in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early Saturday killed at least three people and injured more than 20 others, officials have confirmed. Mayor Ihor Terekhov called the attacks in the country's second-largest city "pure terror," as Ukraine faced overnight bombardment for the third straight day. At least four people died and more than 50 were injured during overnight missile and drone attacks early Friday morning that marked one of Russia's largest aerial assaults of the year, involving almost 500 drones. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Friday attacks affected nearly the entire country. Kharkiv faced "at least 40 explosions" during the overnight attacks, Terekhov said on his Telegram social media account. "Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the start of the full-scale war," Terekhov wrote. "The enemy is striking simultaneously with missiles, (drones) and guided aerial bombs. This is outright terror against peaceful Kharkiv." A 14-year-old girl and a boy under the age of two were among those injured in the latest Russian attacks carried out by over 50 drones and four guided aerial bombs, the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. Ukrainian officials said 18 apartment buildings and an additional 13 residential buildings were damaged in the attacks. "The strikes achieved their objectives. All designated targets were destroyed," Russia's Defense Ministry wrote on Telegram. The attacks came as the two countries were set to carry out a prisoner exchange that would see hundreds of soldiers on both sides repatriated, including the bodies of thousands of those killed in the conflict. Russian officials on Saturday said Ukraine "unexpectedly postponed both the acceptance of bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war for an indefinite period," following the latest round of attacks.
