The Chechen leader who stood up to 'put down' Wagner

By Girish Linganna | First Published Jun 26, 2023, 11:50 PM IST

Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia's Chechen Republic and a close associate of Vladimir Putin, expressed his support for the Russian President and said that Chechen fighters were being deployed to the area of unrest and emphasized the importance of quelling the rebellion. Girish Linganna reports

Before Yevgeniy Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, reached an agreement with Vladimir Putin that put an end to the Wagner march on Moscow, another leader incited his men to take up arms, this time in support of Putin. In an effort to back Putin, his long-time buddy, Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Russia’s Chechen Republic, which has a mainly Muslim population, stated in a Telegram post on Saturday that Chechen fighters were 'moving into the zone of tension' and that 'the rebellion must be put down'.

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Chechen forces loyal to Kadyrov might be seen moving in the Rostov region of Russia in videos posted on Saturday and confirmed by The Washington Post.

The Russian Guard and the Ministry of Defence’s fighters in the Chechen Republic had already departed for high-tension areas as Kadyrov stated on Telegram, 'We’ll stop at nothing to keep Russia together and defend its statehood! We’re prepared to use strong measures, if necessary, to put an end to the insurrection.'

Where is Chechnya?

Chechnya, a Russian republic in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, is bound by Dagestan to the east, North Ossetia-Alania to the north, Stavropol Krai to the north-west, Ingushetia to the west and Georgia to the south. The capital of Chechnya is Grozny. The Chechens are a Muslim people who have a long history of resistance to Russian rule. The republic has been the site of two wars between Russia and Chechnya -- in the 1990s and early-2000s.

Kadyrov Family’s Rise to Power

Before Ramzan Kadyrov came to power in 2007, Akhmad Kadyrov, his father, was not always in favour of the Kremlin. According to reports, the elder Kadyrov, a Muslim priest, was a well-known resistance leader fighting for Chechen independence from Russia during the First Chechen War, which lasted from 1994 to 1996.

The Second Chechen War then started. In 1999, as he was getting ready to assume control of the Kremlin and begin his decades-long leadership, Putin started the fight. Early in the conflict, the elder Kadyrov changed sides after identifying elements of Islamist radicalism in the insurgency.

The elder Kadyrov was nominated by Putin to govern the Chechen Republic in 2000, and he later became the country’s first president. Vadim Dubnov, a Caucasus scholar, noted that, since then, the Kadyrovs have been given more autonomy than other regional Russian leaders.

In a 2003 interview, Putin admitted that, when Kadyrov was first chosen, he had some reservations about him, but, over time, he had grown to respect him. The elder Kadyrov, who was known to have many enemies, perished in a 2004 bombing attributed to Chechen militants, according to The Post.

Who is Ramzan Kadyrov?

In 2007, after the murder of the elder Kadyrov, Putin appointed Ramzan as the new president of the republic. The younger Kadyrov, who has grown to be one of the more well-known figures on social media, is well-known for his odd behaviour. Despite his reputation for ferocity, he is eccentric.

Kadyrov has been in charge of deadly anti-gay purges in Chechnya and the US State Department has linked him to claims of human rights abuses. Kadyrov’s actions and ideas about the world have kept him close to Putin and Wagner Group head Yevgeniy Prigozhin, whom he now criticizes. Like his father, the Chechen leader has been Putin’s faithful ally for more than 15 years.

Kadyrov’s Role in Ukraine

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in early-2022, Kadyrovite forces, a Chechen militia group named after Kadyrov’s father, have been fighting alongside Russian soldiers against Ukrainian troops and even other Chechens.

Kadyrov has always stood by Putin, even though former friends like Prigozhin have spoken out against the strategy in Ukraine. On Saturday, when Wagner’s forces briefly headed towards Moscow, Kadyrov offered to stop them.

One video shot near the border with the Donetsk region of Ukraine showed a long line of Chechen soldiers in trucks and armoured vehicles heading towards Rostov. At the front of the caravan, could be seen a flag with Chechen colours and someone talking about Prigozhin could be heard.

The flag was also seen in a different video that was taken about 50 miles from Rostov, near the town of Matveev Kurgan and armoured vehicles were seen on the same road. People were seen greeting what looked like Chechen units as they got closer to the city in yet another video.

It looked like the defence of Russia’s capital could also depend on Chechen troops. On Saturday, official Chechen media said that about 3,000 troops from the republic were sent to protect the area around Moscow. Grozny TV posted a video on Telegram that showed troops crossing a bridge headed for Kolomna, which is located about 65 miles from Moscow.

In a message posted to Telegram, Kadyrov called Prigozhin’s acts “a knife in the back” and told Russian troops to stand up to any “provocations”.

The author of this article is a Defence, Aerospace and Political analyst

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