One of President Vladimir Putin’s most influential allies has directly criticized Russia’s chief negotiator for the Ukraine peace attempt, saying he was incorrect in suggesting concessions to Kiev.
“We are going to victory with our president!” Chechnya dictator Ramzan Kadyrov said on his Telegram channel.
If it’s not close to being a breakup, the manifestation suggests two things. First, dissatisfaction among the most radical elements in support of Putin’s war in the neighboring country since the end of February. Second, that Kadirov plays for this same audience, given the criticism that circulates about the performance of his forces in Ukraine.
“We will not make any concessions. [o negociador Vladimir] Medinski who made a mistake, used the wrong phrases. if you think he [Putin] will give up what he started, the way he was put to us, that’s not true,” said the Chechen.
In the negotiations that took place on Tuesday (29) in Istanbul, Medinski spoke about the terms put on paper by the Ukrainians and about the announcement that the talks would be facilitated by a reduction in military activity around Kiev and Chernihiv.
Despite one-off attacks ensuing and the general distrust in the West that the Russians are just regrouping, Kadyrov took the idea of ​​retreat literally to craft his critique. Detail: the initial announcement had been made by Alexander Fomin, deputy defense minister, which also adds doubts about the alignment in the Russian government.
He is not just any ally. Putin ascended to power in 1999 as prime minister of Boris Yelstin’s government with the mission of ending the war in Chechnya, a small and unruly Muslim separatist republic that had humiliated the Kremlin in a 1994-1996 war. Russian federal government inherited from the Soviet Union, dissolved in 1991.
Putin used widespread brutality and, by the following year, had subjugated the Chechens, including some of the city siege tactics seen now in Ukraine. He ceded power to a local warlord, Ramzan’s father Akhmat.
In 2004, the dictator was killed in an attack and his son gradually took his place, assuming full power with the support of the Kremlin three years later. Grozny, the capital that had fallen into disrepair, was rebuilt with Russian money and Kadyrov’s contacts in the Persian Gulf — there is a picturesque “mini-Dubai” with mirrored Soviet-style buildings in the city center and full of tributes to Putin and Akhmat.
At home, Kadirov applied a hard line, violently suppressing both Islamic extremists (he is from a moderate branch of the religion) and human rights activists and the LGBTQIA+ population, for what he is considered an outcast in the West.
Chechens have a reputation as irascible warriors, and Kadyrov’s channel advertises his alleged exploits in Ukraine. The dictator himself said he was close to Kiev, which is highly dubious, and posted pictures this week claiming to be in the Mariupol area.
In one, he was praying at a gas station owned by Rosneft, a Russian state-owned company that does not operate in Ukraine. In another, she heard a Russian general actually involved in the action in Mariupol, in an undisclosed location.
In his speech this Wednesday (30), he was in the ornate government office in Grozny, where even the scissors are golden. Ostentation and a taste for sport are hallmarks of the dictator: in the 2018 World Cup, he paid for Mohammad Salah’s Egypt stay in the city, without giving his guests much luck, and he has hosted Brazilians such as the former side of the national team Roberto Carlos.
He describes himself as “Putin’s first foot soldier” and preaches loyalty to the Kremlin. His forces are indeed in Mariupol and have reportedly been responsible for several battles to control the city. But they come under the umbrella of Rosvgardia, Putin’s National Guard that is separated from the Armed Forces, in special operations-style actions, usually without heavy equipment.
The Russian-Chechen association leads to curious scenes for a country that fought a bloody war against Islamists in the 1990s: the rallying cry of the gang is “Sila Akhmat! Allahu Akhbar!” —”Strength Akhmat!” followed by “God is the greatest”, which is on the lips of every Muslim fighter in the world.
Flags depicting Kadirov’s father are ubiquitous in the choreographed mobile phone actions, and the dictator is constantly preaching against the Azov Battalion, the Ukrainian neo-Nazi unit he fought in Mariupol.
