THE Russian President Vladimir Putin met today with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrovaccording to a state television reporter, three days after Kadyrov said he was proud that his 15-year-old son had beaten a prisoner accused of burning the Koran.

Short video footage released by journalist Pavel Zarubin shows the two men exchanging comments, making no mention of the beating incident which has been condemned even by some hard-line Kremlin supporters.

Putin said there was “positive momentum” in Chechnya, thanks mainly to Kadyrov and his team. Kadyrov appeared to hand him some documents from a folder.

Putin has given Kadyrov complete freedom to rule the predominantly Muslim region in southern Russia as his personal fiefdom in exchange for stability in the region as well as loyalty after wars in the 1990s and 2000s in which he tried to break away from Moscow.

Kadyrov has cultivated the image of a ruthless Putin ally and a staunch supporter of Russia’s war in Ukraine, but some commentators argued he crossed the line this week by condoning his son Adam’s attack on prisoner Nikita Zhuravel. Kadyrov posted a video showing his son punching and kicking Zhuravel, with the Chechen leader saying he was proud of the young man for acquiring “ideals for honor, dignity and defense of his religion, ideals that an adult has”. .

The beating left Putin facing accusations that he handed over a Russian to be “devoured by Chechens,” former Kremlin press secretary Abbas Galyamov, now a staunch Putin critic, said this week. Even commentators close to the Kremlin called the incident outrageous.

Kadyrov, 46, has been the subject of intense speculation about his health, with rumors circulating this month that he was dead or in a coma. Last week he posted a message on Telegram saying that he is fine and that the reason he traveled to a hospital in Moscow was to visit his sick uncle who was being treated.