Ramzan Kadyrov is dying. This spells trouble for Vladimir Putin |
For years, we have heard rumours that Ramzan Kadyrov, dictator of Chechnya, is mortally ill. Unlike the lurid tales about Vladimir Putin, these rumours appear to be true, and the Kremlin is bracing itself for a potential succession crisis at the very worst time. This week, one of the official news agencies even quietly updated their canned obituary of him, just in case. This means Putin may soon face a fearsome dilemma: risk losing Chechnya or lose what momentum he has in Ukraine?
Daudov won Ramzan’s favour by literally bringing him the head of rebel Suleyman Elmurzayev, who had claimed responsibility for the murder of his father
Kadyrov has had his iron fist around the throat of Chechnya since 2007, and he and his Benoi teip (clan) have not only wiped out most potential opposition but also perfected the art of cloaking protection racketeering in the guise of ultra-loyalism. Ramzan loudly and frequently proclaims his allegiance to Putin, even while turning Chechnya into a vicious Islamist dictatorship, funded by huge subsidies from Moscow. While that money has helped rebuild the flattened city of Grozny, it has also gone to paying off the fractious Chechen elite and fulfilling every whim for Kadyrov and his family – from vanity projects like the huge mosque he built in his father’s name, or Ramzan’s private zoo and stable of supercars, including one of only 20 Lamborghini Reventóns in the world, a snip at just over a million pounds.
In contradiction to the Russian constitution, he has introduced Sharia law, and Chechen police regularly kidnap not just dissidents from elsewhere in the country, but even runaway brides fleeing forced, arranged marriages.........