[1/2]Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in Moscow, Russia, on September 28, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool acquire license rights via Portal
Sept 28 (Portal) – Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said he discussed his region’s contribution to Russia’s war effort in Ukraine during talks with President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, coming at a sensitive time in relations between the two sides.
Kadyrov enjoys wide latitude over Putin to ruthlessly rule Chechnya as his personal fiefdom, but he angered even pro-Kremlin hardliners this week when he praised his 15-year-old son for beating an ethnic Russian prisoner in Chechen custody.
Kadyrov posted on Telegram that he and Putin discussed a range of topics, including the role of Chechen fighters in Ukraine. He teasingly added that “other topics” had been raised and promised “more on that later.”
It was not clear whether he was referring to last month’s beating incident in which his son Adam kicked and punched a prisoner named Nikita Zhuravel, who is accused of burning the Koran.
Kadyrov released a video of the attack on Monday and said he was proud of his son for defending his Muslim religion.
The alleged Koran burning did not take place in Chechnya, but Russian investigators said they transferred Zhuravel to Chechen custody because Muslims there saw themselves as victims of the incident.
The beating led to accusations that Putin had extradited an ethnic Russian “to be devoured by the Chechens,” former Kremlin speechwriter Abbas Gallyamov, now a fierce Putin critic, said this week. Even pro-Kremlin war commentators described the episode as an outrage.
Rumors circulated this month that Kadyrov, 46, was seriously ill in the hospital, but he laughed and flexed his biceps when a Russian television reporter asked him about his health.
Kadyrov has publicly discussed giving up power at some point and has raised the profile of his three teenage sons, the eldest of whom was photographed with Putin in the Kremlin in March.
Ensuring stability in Chechnya is crucial for Moscow, which has fought two brutal and costly wars since the collapse of the Soviet Union to prevent its secession.
Reporting by Mark Trevelyan, Editing by Alexandra Hudson
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