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Al Jazeera
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Chechnya's Kadyrov wanted to resign. Or did he?
The health of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who earlier this month sought to resign, is deteriorating rapidly, sources and observers have told Al Jazeera. But Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want Kadyrov to be succeeded by his third son, they say. Earlier this month, 48-year-old Kadyrov, who has long dubbed himself Putin's 'foot soldier', said he wanted to quit. 'Another [Chechen leader] will have his own initiative, his own vision. I hope my request will be supported,' Kadyrov told a pro-Kremlin publication, Chechnya Today, before his May 7 meeting with Putin. During the meeting in Putin's office, Kadyrov boasted of 55,000 Chechen servicemen fighting in Ukraine and read a laundry list of economic achievements under his rule in Chechnya, a region home to 1.5 million people. Kadyrov, known as a boxing and weightlifting aficionado, read his words aloud from cards with extra-large print. Neither mentioned the resignation. Kadyrov clarified the issue a day later and habitually glorified Putin. 'Whatever I say, no matter how hard I ask, the decision is only made by one person – our Supreme Commander,' Kadyrov, who had streets and districts in Chechnya named after Putin, wrote on Telegram. 'I'm a foot soldier. If there's an order – I follow it.' Two Chechen insiders familiar with the inner workings of Kadyrov's government told Al Jazeera that, despite the deferential tones, Kadyrov has had a falling-out with Putin over his preferred successor – his third son, Adam Kadyrov, who turned 17 last November. The sources requested anonymity, as rights groups have previously documented a harsh crackdown on dissent in Chechnya, including the persecution of Kadyrov critics and their loved ones. 'Putin refused to have Adam as a successor,' one of the sources said. Kadyrov presents Adam as his son with his wife, Medni. In 2023, Ramzan posted a video purporting to show his son in a pretrial detention centre assaulting a Russian man who had burned a copy of the Quran. Ramzan said he was 'proud' of Adam, who federal investigators said cannot face assault charges because of his age. The younger Kadyrov has been appointed to several official positions, including head of Chechnya's security council. But according to one of the sources, he has been 'raised as a prince' and has limited experience of the 'real world'. According to Chechnya's constitution, no one below 30 can head it. At the time of the 2004 assassination of his father, Akhmat, Ramzan was 28. Akhmat was a mufti and separatist strongman who switched sides after conflicts with puritan separatists who rejected Chechnya's Sufi traditions. Akhmat was killed in a bomb blast, and Ramzan at the time relied on figureheads before officially becoming Chechnya's leader in 2007. Adam will turn 30 in 2037. Kadyrov senior reportedly has necrotising pancreatitis, a health condition with a low survival rate, and kidney problems that require frequent dialysis. The sources Al Jazeera interviewed claimed he was hospitalised several times in critical condition, and spends hours in the AiMed Family Clinic in Chechnya's administrative capital, Grozny, every day and often stays overnight. Kadyrov also resorts to prerecorded videos that are broadcast for several consecutive days to create the illusion of his busy, uninterrupted work schedule, they said. Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify their claims, which are consistent with other media reports about Kadyrov's reported ailing health. The illness has reportedly forced Kadyrov to break unwritten rules. For the first time in two decades, he did not record a television address to congratulate Chechens when the holy month of Ramadan ended in late March. He also did not take part in this year's February 24 commemorations of the Stalinist 1944 deportation of the entire Chechen community to Central Asia. Kadyrov is 'very worried' about his family's destiny after his death, according to Ansar Dishni of Nyiso, a Telegram channel that publishes insider news from Chechnya. 'Of course, the Kremlin has given his family security guarantees, but everything can change because Putin is also not forever,' Dishni told Al Jazeera. So far, Apti Alaudinov, a 51-year-old top security official in Chechnya, is the Kremlin's preferred successor, the sources said. Alaudinov is a poster boy of Chechens fighting on Russia's side in Ukraine, even though the forces he commands have been ridiculed for staging videos of 'participating' in the hostilities. Al Jazeera reported that these forces barely distinguished themselves in combat and mostly have to police Russia-occupied areas in Ukraine. For years, Kadyrov has been reportedly investing in real estate and businesses in the United Arab Emirates and other Middle Eastern nations, creating a financial haven for his family. Others have followed suit. 'Chechens are among our best buyers,' a Russian-speaking real estate agent in Dubai told Al Jazeera. 'They show up with bags of cash.' Three decades ago, Chechnya was a hotbed of separatism beset by kidnappings, assassinations and abject poverty. 'At one point, some believed that Chechnya's status as part of the Russian Federation could serve as a guarantee against further degradation of the human rights situation,' Ivar Dale, a senior policy adviser with the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, a rights watchdog, told Al Jazeera. But after two devastating wars and a decades-long, violent crackdown on 'extremism' in the wider North Caucasus region, Chechnya has by far become Russia's most privileged province. Moscow floods it with federal funds that are reportedly misappropriated by Kadyrov, who has built palatial, heavily fortified residences, boasted a collection of luxurious sports cars and invited champion boxer Mike Tyson, as well as Western celebrities to perform at public concerts on his birthday. Human rights groups accuse him and his personal guards of extrajudicial killings, torture, abduction and the destruction of properties that belong to alleged 'extremists'. Dale said Chechnya's human rights abuses are being replicated in other Russian regions and Russia-occupied parts of Ukraine. 'The most horrific abuses in Chechnya have become the standard for Russia in general,' Dale said. Observers believe little will change after Kadyrov's death and the appointment of his successor. But whoever rules Chechnya next 'may try to use Kadyrov's image in a negative key as a figure the people allegedly got rid of to present himself as a good-willed reformer', Dishni of the Nyiso Telegram channel concluded.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
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
Business Insider
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Insider
Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov says he wants to quit his job but needs Putin's permission
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 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.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kadyrov asks Putin if he can resign as head of Chechen Republic
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin if he can resign as head of the Chechen Republic, he told Russian state-controlled media Chechnya Today on May 6. Kadyrov has ruled Chechnya since 2007. Under his leadership, the Chechen Republic has become known as one of the most dangerous parts of the world, infamous for forced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings. The U.S. and other Western allies have imposed sanctions against Kadyrov and his family over human rights abuses in Chechnya. "I've heard those rumors (about resignation), too. They say all sorts of things. On the contrary, I am asking to be dismissed from my post," Kadyrov said. "I hope that my request will be supported." Kadyrov clarified that the decision on whether he will be dismissed is up to Putin now. Kadyrov's statement comes amid news that the Chechen dictator's illness, pancreatic necrosis, is progressing rapidly, and he has allegedly appointed his minor son Adam as his successor, according to the independent Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe. This is not the first time Kadyrov has asked for his resignation. He made similar statements in 2016, 2017, and 2022, according to the independent Russian media outlet Astra. In previous cases, his resignation was not approved. Read also: How Kadyrov became so powerful, and why Chechnya remains vital for survival of Putin's regime We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Newsweek
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Kadyrov Asks Putin to Be 'Relieved' of His Duties
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov said he has asked "to be relieved of my post" amid rumors of ill health that will force him from office. Kadyrov was appointed to his position by Russian President Vladimir Putin back in 2007 and, according to a report by Novaya Gazeta Europe, is preparing his 17-year-old son Adam to be his successor. "I also heard these rumors. They write all sorts of different things," Kadyrov said in response to the report, the government-run Chechnya Today reported. "On the contrary, I myself ask to be relieved of my post. The other will have his own initiatives, his own vision. I hope that my request will be supported." Kadyrov has previously said he would leave the position, only to stay on. This is a developing article and more information will be added soon.
