Ramzan Kadyrov

Ramzan Kadyrov is a Chechen politician, a son of Akhmat Kadyrov, the first president of the Chechen Republic. Since 2011, Ramzan Kadyrov has been the leader of Chechnya.

During the first and second Chechen military campaigns

Ramzan Kadyrov was born in the Chechen village of Tsentaroi on October 5, 1976.

In 1994-1996, during the first Chechen military campaign, Ramzan Kadyrov fought on the side of the separatists. Since 1996, Ramzan Kadyrov was an assistant and a personal bodyguard of his father Mufti Akhmat Kadyrov.

In the autumn of 1999, at the beginning of the second Chechen war, Akhmat and Ramzan Kadyrov went over to the side of the federal troops.

Until 2000, Ramzan Kadyrov was well-known mainly for his sports career: he took part in boxing competitions. He has got the title of Master of Sports.

During the presidency of Akhmat Kadyrov

In 2003, after Akhmat Kadyrov was elected the President of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov became the chief of the presidential security service. He held the position of the Assistant Minister of Internal Affairs of Chechnya, was a member of the State Council of the Chechen Republic from the Gudermes District. According to media reports, Ramzan Kadyrov was responsible for conducting special operations and negotiations with militants to persuade them to join the side of the federal forces.

After the Akhmat Kadyrov's death

On May 10, 2004, the day after the death of his father in a terror act, Ramzan Kadyrov was appointed the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic.

On December 29, 2004, Ramzan Kadyrov was awarded the title of the Hero of Russia.

Since November 11, 2005, he acted as the char of the government for Chechnya.

On March 4, 2006, Chechen President Alu Alkhanov signed a decree to appoint Ramzan Kadyrov the Prime Minister of the republic.

On February 15, 2007, President Vladimir Putin appointed Ramzan Kadyrov the acting President of the Chechen Republic.

As the leader of Chechnya

On March 1, 2007, President Putin proposed Ramzan Kadyrov as a candidate for the presidency of Chechnya.

On March 2, 2007, the Chechen parliament approved the Ramzan Kadyrov's appointment the president of the republic.

Being appointed the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov continued the line of his father to place his people, mostly from among former separatists (like Kadyrov father and son themselves) to leading positions.

On March 5, 2011, Chechen MPs voted for to re-approve Ramzan Kadyrov as the leader of Chechnya for other five years.

On August 26, 2012, Ramzan Kadyrov declared that the Chechen authorities intended to raise the issue of the border with Ingushetia: "Everyone knows that the Sunzha District and large areas of the Malgobek District are parts of Chechnya."

On February 25, 2013, Ramzan Kadyrov invited Gerard Depardieu to Grozny and handed him over the keys to a five-room apartment.

In connection with the events in Ukraine, Ramzan Kadyrov is included in the sanctions lists of the United States, the European Union, Switzerland, and Canada.

On July 19, 2014, on Instagram, Ramzan Kadyrov presented a photo evidence of the death of Doku Umarov, the leader of the "Imarat Kavkaz".

In May 2015, experts of the Petersburg Politics Foundation and the holding mentioned the Ramzan Kadyrov's strengths as federal support and control over the situation in the region, while among his weak points they mentioned his immersion in intra-elite conflicts, negative resonance situations, and tension with the leaders of the neighbouring republics.

On March 25, 2016, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to appoint Ramzan Kadyrov the acting leader of the Chechen Republic.

On September 18, 2016, at the election of the republic' leader, Ramzan Kadyrov was supported by more than 97% of voters.

On October 31, 2016, Ramzan Kadyrov declared that Chechnya would not be able to develop if its funding was reduced.

On April 11, 2017, the Financial Times reported a conflict between Ramzan Kadyrov and Igor Sechin, the CEO of the "Rosneft" Company, provoked by the situation around Chechen enterprises. The escalation of the conflict led to the appearance of a version about a "Chechen trace" in a terror act committed in Saint Petersburg.

On July 27, 2017, in his Telegram, Ramzan Kadyrov stated that he was ready to resign and protect during all his life the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in connection with the conflict situation around the Mosque on the Temple Mount.

Assassination attempts

Several assassinations were organized against Ramzan Kadyrov.

On May 12, 2000, on the road "Kavkaz", an explosive device was activated next to his jeep. Ramzan Kadyrov got a light contusion.

On September 30, 2002, unidentified persons shelled a Ramzan Kadyrov's car in the village of Novogroznensky in the Gudermes District. One of his subordinates was wounded.

On July 27, 2003, in the village of Tsotsan-Yurt in the Kurchaloi District, body guards prevented a female suicide bomber from blowing up Ramzan Kadyrov. The suicide bomber and a local woman were killed in an attempt.

At night on May 1, 2004, a unit of separatists attacked the Ramzan Kadyrov's native village of Tsentaroi. According to Ramzan Kadyrov's subordinates, attackers wanted to kidnap or kill Ramzan Kadyrov. The militants attack was suppressed.

On July 28, 2008, media reported that in the village of Khosi-Yurt (Tsentaroi) in Chechnya, an unsuccessful attempt was made on Ramzan Kadyrov. He himself denied the information about the assassination and said that the information was being disseminated by "Wahhabis or provokers."

On October 23, 2009, an attempt to assassinate Ramzan Kadyrov and his adviser Adam Delimkhanov was allegedly prevented in Grozny.

On October 3, 2016, the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" published a material on a new assassination attempt on Ramzan Kadyrov committed in the spring of 2016. An attempt was made by a group of young Chechen residents in the village of Benoi, where the Ramzan Kadyrov's residence was located.

Allegations of crimes and human rights violations

Human rights organizations associate the activities of Ramzan Kadyrov with mass and gross violations of human rights.

In 2006, the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights prepared a report on secret prisons in Chechnya, where confessions were "beat out" of suspects "through brutal beatings and torture."

Besides, in 2006, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report on torture in Chechnya.

Umar Israilov, a former body guard of Ramzan Kadyrov, said that he "tortured him with electric current."

On December 20, 2017, the United States added Ramzan Kadyrov to the Magnitsky List and called him responsible for extrajudicial executions, torture, and other human rights violations in Chechnya.

Hobbies

Ramzan Kadyrov is fond of dog fights, cars, and driving a car.

He heads the Chechen Boxing Federation, the "Terek" Football Club (FC), the "Ramzan" sports club and the Chechen KVN league.

Family ties

On October 5, 1976, Ramzan Kadyrov was born in the village of Tsentaroi in the Kurchaloi District of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic). He graduated from the secondary school there. Most of the leaders in Chechnya are relatives of Ramzan Kadyrov. In particular, Dukuvakha Abdurakhmanov, Speaker of the Chechen parliament in 2008-2015, was his relative. Odes Baisultanov, the chair of the government for the Chechen Republic in 2007–2012, is a Ramzan Kadyrov's cousin. State Duma member Adam Demilkhanov is also in close relationship with Ramzan Kadyrov.

Ramzan Kadyrov is married and has eight own children. In 2007, he adopted two boys from an orphanage, whom their relatives refused.

In 2006, at the request of Ramzan, his mother Aimani Kadyrova adopted a 16-year-old pupil of a Grozny orphanage, since Ramzan was not allowed to adopt him because of age difference.

Awards and titles

In 2004, Ramzan Kadyrov was awarded the title of the Hero of Russia.

In August 2005, he was awarded the medal "To Defender of the Chechen Republic".

In June 2006, Ramzan Kadyrov was granted a PhD in Economics.

In 2006, Ramzan Kadyrov was awarded the title of honorary member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.

Ramzan Kadyrov also holds the title of an honorary academician of the Academy of Sciences for the Chechen Republic, an honorary professor at a number of higher education institutions in the Russian Federation, and an honorary citizen of the Chechen Republic. He is awarded the highest award of Chechnya the Order of Akhmat-Khadji Kadyrov and many public awards.

On March 9, 2015, Ramzan Kadyrov was awarded the Order of Honour "For Labor Achievements Achieved, Active Social Action and Long-Term Honest Work."