Putin's staunch ally: Who is Kadyrov?

Ramzan Kadyrov was born on October 5, 1976, in Chechnya. He is the son of the first President of Chechnya, Ahmet Kadyrov, who died as a result of a bomb assassination by Islamist militants during World War II victory celebrations in Grozny on May 9, 2004.

After the death of the second president of the Chechen Republic, Alu Alkanov, he became the head of state of the Chechen Republic in 2007 with the support of Vladimir Putin. Before becoming the head of state, he also served as the prime minister. He and his father Akhmad Kadyrov resisted the Russians in the First Russian-Chechen War and took sides with the Russians in the Second Russian-Chechen War. In 2004, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation by Vladimir Putin. He is also the chairman of RFK Terek Grozny. He is married and has eight children.

December 2021

He described Dudayev, with whom he once fought, as a "terrorist"…

As it is known, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Chechnya, under the leadership of Dzhokhar Dudayev, declared its independence in 1991, but a tough war started in December 1994 as this was not accepted by the Russian Federation and its military intervention followed.

Despite Dzhokhar Dudayev's death on April 21, 1996, when his phone signal was detected and a missile was fired from a Russian warplane while meeting with a Russian senator, the Chechens succeeded in the ongoing war and managed to retake the cities they lost, including their capital city, Grozny.

Thereupon, on August 31, 1996, a ceasefire and then an agreement was reached between the parties, and while the Russian troops were withdrawing from Chechnya, they continued to remain attached to the Russian Federation, albeit with looser ties that could be called independent.

In all these processes, Ramadan Kadyrov's father, Ahmet Kadyrov, acted together with Dzhokhar Dudayev and defended the idea of ​​independence.

There are videos claiming that Ramadan Kadyrov, who was born in 1976, acted together with the pro-independence Chechens and even fought until 1996.

The peace in Chechnya did not last long. Russia, using a group of forces under the command of Chechen leader Shamil Basayev to enter this country to help the pro-independence groups in Dagestan, launched the second operation, this time on September 29, 1999.

Attacking fiercely with a larger force, Russia also made good use of the differences of opinion among the Chechens.

While some took a pro-Russian stance, they continued their resistance by retreating to the countryside after the fall of the remaining settlements.

Among those who took a pro-Russian stance was Kadyrov's father, Akhmad Kadyrov.

Kadyrov took office on October 5, 2003, as the first president of the pro-Russian administration established in Chechnya, but he died on May 9, 2004, in a bomb attack organized by pro-independence Chechens during a ceremony at the stadium.

With his death, his son, Ramazan Kadyrov, came to the fore. Ramazan Kadyrov started a struggle with the Russians against the pro-independence Chechens. For this reason, Kadyrov, who was declared a "Hero of the Russian Federation" by Putin in 2004, was appointed as the head of the autonomous Chechnya Republic affiliated with Russia in 2007.

March 2022

Kadyrov took his 14-year-old son to Mariupol to fight

During the Russian occupation of Ukraine, Ramazan Kadyrov went to Mariupol with his 14-year-old son. Kadyrov and his son also visited high-ranking Russian generals here. Kadyrov's 14-year-old son is also known for his expensive tastes.

In Kadyrov's propaganda video, he goes to the hospital with his 14-year-old son, dressed in military garb, to visit Ruslan Geremeyev, the prime suspect in one of Russia's most notorious political murders.

September 2022

"It's time to relinquish power"

Six months after Russia's attack on Ukraine, 45-year-old Ramazan Kadyrov, in his post, said that he was planning to take an "indefinite and long" hiatus from his job and said, "I realized that I've been in the same place for a long time. I think it's time to leave power."

When Kadyrov said that he wanted to leave without being fired, his smile did not go unnoticed.

7 October 2022

Chechen leader Ramazan Kadyrov presented Putin with 20,000 soldiers on his birthday:

“If allowed, 70,000 Chechen soldiers are ready to serve in Ukraine. Allahu Akbar!”

20,000 Chechen soldiers said "Hurraa" three times for Vladimir Putin, sworn to fight in Ukraine. Some Chechen soldiers posed with US-made Javelin anti-tank missiles. These missiles were seized from the Ukrainian army. Chechens call these weapons "booty".

October 2022

Kadyrov described the war in Ukraine as "jihad". "All of Ukraine is our land," said Kadyrov, adding, "There were American soldiers who came to the border.

Kadyrov described Russia's war in Ukraine as "a jihad against devil-worshipping Satanists" and called for the destruction of all cities:

"Our borders do not end in Kharkiv. Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv ... All of Ukraine is ours. We will raze every city to the ground. We will seize every inch of land. Praise be to Allah, this is a jihad against Satanists."