Ramzan Kadyrov

Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov is a Chechen politician currently serving as the Head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly a member of the Chechen independence movement.

He is the son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated in May 2004. In February 2007, Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as president, shortly after he had turned 30, which is the minimum age for the post. He was engaged in violent power struggles with Chechen commanders Sulim Yamadayev and Said-Kakiyev for overall military authority, and with Alkhanov for political authority.

He founded the Akhmat Fight Club and established an international annual freestyle wrestling tournament called the Ramzan Kadyrov & Adlan Varayev Cup. Since November 2015, he is a member of the Advisory Commission of the State Council of the Russian Federation.

Over the years, he has come under criticism from international organisations for a wide array of human rights abuses under his watch, with Human Rights Watch calling the forced disappearances and torture so widespread they constituted crimes against humanity. During his tenure, he has advocated to restrict the public lives of women, and led anti-gay purges in the Republic.

Biography

Kadyrov was born in Tsentaroy, Checheno-Ingush ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. He was the second son in Akhmat and Aimani Kadyrovs' family and their youngest child. He had an elder brother named Zelimkhan (1974 – 31 May 2004), and he has two elder sisters, Zargan (born 1971) and Zulay (born 1972). Kadyrov strove to gain the respect of his father, Akhmad Kadyrov, who was an imam. He claims that he always emulated his father. Akhmad had supported the call for jihad against Russians during the First Chechen War but switched sides and declared allegiance to Russia in the Second Chechen War. In the early 1990s, as the Soviet Union dissolved, the Chechens launched a bid for independence.

During the First Chechen War, together with his father, he fought against Russian armed forces. After the war, Ramzan was the personal driver and bodyguard of his father Akhmad, who became the separatist mufti of Chechnya.

The Kadyrovtsy militia was formed during the First Chechen War when Akhmad Kadyrov launched the jihad against Russia.

The Kadyrov family defected to the Moscow side at the beginning of the Second Chechen War in 1999. Since then, Kadyrov led his militia with support from Russia's FSB state security service (including service ID cards) becoming the head of the Chechen Presidential Security Service. The militia later became known as the Kadyrovites.

Deputy Prime Minister

After his father, the then President, was assassinated on 9 May 2004, Ramzan was appointed as the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic on 10 May 2004.

When his sister was detained by the Dagestan police in January 2005, Kadyrov and some 150 armed men drove to the Khasavyurt City Police (GOVD) building. According to the city mayor, Kadyrov's men surrounded the GOVD, forcing its duty officers against a wall, and assaulted them, after which they left the building with Zulay Kadyrova, "victoriously shooting in the air."

In August 2005, Kadyrov declared that "Europe's largest mosque" would be built in place of the demolished ruins of Grozny's shattered downtown. He also claimed that Chechnya is the "most peaceful place in Russia" and in a few years it would also be "the wealthiest and the most peaceful" place in the world. He said that the war was already over with only 150 "bandits" remaining (as opposed to the official figures of 700 to 2,000 rebel fighters), and that thanks to his father, 7,000 separatists had already defected to the Russian side since 1999. When responding to a question on how he is going to "avenge the murder of his father", Kadyrov said:

I've already killed him, whom I ought to kill. And those, who stay behind him, I will be killing them, to the very last of them, until I am myself killed or jailed. I will be killing [them] for as long as I live... Putin is gorgeous. He thinks more about Chechnya than about any other republic [of the Russian Federation]. When my father was murdered, he [Putin] came and went to the cemetery in person. Putin has stopped the war. Putin should be made president for life. Strong rule is needed. Democracy is all but an American fabrication... Russians never obey their laws. Everyone was stealing, and only Khodorkovsky is in jail.

He remained the First Deputy Prime Minister until November 2005.

Acting Prime Minister

From left to right: President Alu Alkhanov, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Kadyrov at the first session of the Chechen Parliament in December 2005.

Following a car accident in November 2005, in which Chechnya's prime minister Sergey Abramov was injured, Kadyrov was appointed as the caretaker prime minister on 18 November 2005. He immediately proceeded to implement elements of Sharia law, such as declaring a ban on gambling and alcohol production.

In February 2006, responding to the publication of the Mohammed cartoons, he accused the Danes of "spying" and being "pro-terrorist". He also banned Danish citizens from entering Chechnya, effectively banning activity of the Danish Refugee Council, the largest NGO working in the region. Kadyrov is quoted as saying, "That cartoonist needs to be buried alive." He was eventually pressed to overturn this decision by Moscow, a rare example of federal intervention in Kadyrov's rule in the republic.

Prime Minister

On 1 March 2006, Sergey Abramov resigned from the position of prime minister and told Itar-Tass news agency that he did so "on the condition that Ramzan Kadyrov lead the Chechen government." This was followed by a decree of Kadyrov forcing women to wear headscarves; he also rejected a federal appropriation of the republic's budget, demanding more money, and called for all federal forces but the border guards to be withdrawn.

Kadyrov was appointed as the Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic by Alkhanov on 4 March 2006. Shortly after taking office, Kadyrov approved a project to erect a presidential palace on a 30-acre (120,000 m2) plot by the Sunzha River in ruined downtown Grozny. The project, which was also to include a five-star hotel and recreational facilities, was estimated to cost around 1.5 billion rubles ($54 million USD) to build. Later, Kadyrov called for refugee camps scattered across Chechnya to be closed down, calling the refugees "international spies who are interested in stoking conflict between Chechnya and Russia, who are seeking to destabilise the situation in our region". Reuters quoted him as saying that "liquidating the refugee camps will allow us to uncover spies who are working for foreign intelligence services". His cousin Odes Baysultanov was appointed to the position of First Deputy Prime Minister by Alkhanov on 6 March 2006 after being unanimously approved by the Chechen Parliament.

On 5 June 2006, Speaker of the Chechen People's Assembly Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov said at a press conference in Moscow that "there is no alternative" to Kadyrov for the presidency; Kadyrov has "exclusive awards in combat, and has made achievements in improving the peaceful life and in human rights protection. Who could replace him at this stage? Nobody," he said. Later that year, Umar Dzhabrailov, Chechnya's representative in the Federation Council and a close ally of Kadyrov's, urged Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov to initiate a measure calling on Kadyrov to become the republic's president, thereby replacing Alu Alkhanov. The following week, several Russian newspapers reported that a worsening security situation in Chechnya was lessening the likelihood that Kadyrov would replace Alu Alkhanov as the republic's president. Other media, however, reported that Kadyrov continued to strengthen his position at Alkhanov's expense. He was also elected as the Chair of the Chechen Peoples' Assembly in late-October 2006.

On 6 December 2006, Kadyrov said that he would seek the prosecution of the commanders of federal military units responsible for the death or disappearance of civilians in Chechnya (specifically Major General Aleksandr Studenikin). In addition, Kadyrov said the war in Chechnya was unleashed not by the Chechen people but by the Russian leadership. Kadyrov's comments may have represented his government's increasing unhappiness with certain figures in Moscow, who were said to be blocking his elevation to the post of Chechen president. In 2006, leaked cables from an American diplomat recounted a lavish wedding attended by Kadyrov in Russia's Caucasus region in which guests threw $100 bills at child dancers, and which had nighttime "water-scooter jaunts on the Caspian Sea", and a report that Kadyrov gave the newly married couple a "five-kilo lump of gold".

On 5 February 2007, Kadyrov said he did not aspire to become the Chechen president; however, he criticised Alkhanov. Kadyrov also claimed the war in Chechnya was ultimately finished, with "all informal armed groups eliminated". Alkhanov, for his part, criticised "the cult of personality and idealisation of one person", a clear reference to Kadyrov, whose enormous portraits are prominently displayed in Grozny.

President of the Chechen Republic

Kadyrov (right) with Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2008

On 15 February 2007, Putin signed a decree removing Alkhanov and installing Kadyrov as Chechen's acting president.[33] On 2 March 2007, following Putin's nomination of Kadyrov as Chechen president, the Chechen parliament approved the nomination.[34] In the following days, serious changes took place in the administrative setup of the republic, affecting both the top- and middle-ranking officials. Former deputy prime minister Odes Baysultanov (a cousin of Kadyrov) was elevated to the vacant post of prime minister. Critics allege that Kadyrov is actively building his own "vertical of power" in the republic, and encouraging nepotism by placing men of his own family(Kadyrov) in all the leading and important positions.

A Russian daily, Gazeta, reported that according to a poll conducted by the independent Levada Center, only 33 percent of Russians believe that Kadyrov can be trusted, while 35 percent believed that he cannot. Asked whether they thought Kadyrov could normalise the situation in Chechnya and end the bloodshed there, 31 percent said yes and 38 percent said no.

On 14 March 2007, Kadyrov said that human rights abuses were "a thing of the past" in his republic, rejecting new charges of torture made by the Council of Europe. Two days later he accused the federal authorities of torturing detainees. On 19 March 2007, Kadyrov vowed to put an end to all remaining guerilla activity in Chechnya within two months. On 5 April 2007, Kadyrov was sworn in as President of Chechnya. He appointed his maternal cousin Odes Baysultanov as the Prime Minister of the republic on 10 April.

Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque completed in 2008

After the car-bomb attack on Yunus-bek Yevkurov, president of the neighbouring Republic of Ingushetia on 22 June 2009, Kadyrov claimed that the Kremlin had ordered him to fight insurgents there, and during his subsequent visit to the republic on 24 June pledged ruthless vengeance.

In late December 2009, Kadyrov claimed that remaining rebels were getting financed by "The West"; "I officially declare this: those who destroyed the Soviet Union, those who want to destroy the Russian Federation, they stand behind them". He also suggested that Russia should attack Georgia and Ukraine "It's Russia's private affliction; why should we always suffer if we can eradicate this for good?". In early August 2010, Kadyrov had claimed that there were only 70 Islamist militants left in Chechnya. In the same month, he proposed changing the title of President of the Chechen Republic to Head of the Chechen Republic. On 12 August, he also called upon presidents of all North Caucasus republics to petition the State Duma to change their titles, stating that there should only be one president in Russia. The Chechen parliament unanimously approved this change on 2 September.[citation needed] However, Speaker of the Chechen Parliament Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov stated on 4 September that the title will be retained until the end of Kadyrov's term in April 2011.

In February 2011, he invited the players of Brazil's 2002 FIFA World Cup winning team to play a match against a Chechen football team led by Kadyrov. The Brazilian team was named as Brazil XI. In addition, Ruud Gullit was hired by Kadyrov to train FC Terek Grozny.

Head of the Chechen Republic

Kadyrov in 2014

Kadyrov was nominated by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on 28 February 2011 and was unanimously elected for a second term by the Chechen Parliament on 5 March 2011. After his election, he stated that he was going to continue the current course of reviving the republic's economy and society.[citation needed]

On 8 March, he captained a Chechen football team which included current players of FC Terek Grozny, former players of Soviet Union national football team and former German midfielder Lothar Matthaeus in a match against the team Brazil XI which included ex-Brazilian footballers like Romario, Dunga, Bebeto and Cafu. Kadyrov scored twice during the match but his team lost 6–4 to the Brazilian side. Kadyrov said that he had organised the match to show that Chechnya had recovered from years of separatist conflict. He also said that the Brazilians weren't paid to appear but came out of goodwill and in return for a donation to flood victims in Brazil.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Kadyrov at the grave of the first President of Chechnya Akhmad Kadyrov in June 2012

Kadyrov was sworn in as head of the republic on 5 April 2011. In November 2012, he visited Azerbaijan to sign intergovernmental agreements. In December 2012, he ordered the closure of the newspaper Kadyrov's Path after one of its reporters asked Putin a question about the violence once focused in Chechnya spreading to other republics and followed it up by asking about the fate of a local radio station. Kadyrov had reportedly taken a disliking to the question asked by the reporter to Putin.

Kadyrov termed former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's ouster as a "coup d'etat" and a deliberate attempt to exert pressure on Russia through Ukraine, however at the same time placed the blame on Yanukovych for the situation in Ukraine. On 28 February 2014, he affirmed his readiness to dispatch peacekeepers and a consignment of humanitarian aid to Crimea.

After the 2014 Grozny bombing, in which ISIL's hand was suspected, he said that he might block internet in Chechnya as anyone could easily find and listen to a sermon by a jihadist. After Kadyrov went on a tirade against ISIL on Instagram for threatening Russia, ISIL commander Omar al-Shishani put a $5 million bounty on him.

On 26 May 2015, he announced that he was going to star in a Hollywood thriller titled Whoever Doesn't Understand Will Get It which will be directed by a director of famous Hollywood films and also feature global film-stars. Kadyrov in July 2015 denied that ISIL had any territory in Chechnya and claimed that they never will. During an interview in October 2015, he suggested that Putin should send Chechen special forces to Syria claiming they will wipe out ISIL in weeks. On 3 December, he promised revenge against ISIL for beheading of Khasiev. On 8 February 2016, he claimed that Chechen special forces had infiltrated ISIL cells.

Kadyrov announced on 27 February 2016 that he would step down at the end of his second term, which was set to expire on 5 April. However, he later decided to run in the elections that were to be held that September. Putin appointed him as the acting head of Chechnya until the elections in a decree signed on 25 March.

Kadyrov launched his reality show titled The Team with the first episode being aired by Channel One on 30 June. People from across Russia were invited by Kadyrov to register for the contest. The winner of the contest will go on to become head of Chechnya's Agency for Strategic Development.

On 18 September 2016, Kadyrov was re-elected with nearly 98% of the vote. Philip Varychenko, a native of Düsseldorf, was chosen as the winner of Kadyrov's reality show on 22 November and was appointed as a government aide. Kadyrov visited Saudi Arabia on 27 November where he met the Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. During the meeting, they discussed Russia–Saudi Arabia relations as well as issues of common interest. He also visited the United Arab Emirates on the same day and met Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. The two discussed friendship, cooperation and strengthening ties. During his visits, he praised King Salman of Saudi Arabia for his "leadership of the Muslim world and efforts to combat extremism".

On 28 November, he stated that veterans of American special forces would not be allowed to train security and intelligence personnel at a "tactical city" in Gudermes because "they weren't as good as Russian special forces and there were sanctions against all official structures from the United States." On 29 November, he claimed in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that only a few dozen Chechens were fighting with ISIL, adding that most of them grew up in Western Europe. He also stated that measures taken by Chechen authorities had been successful in bringing back many young recruits before they reached Syria.

During an interview aired on 27 November 2017, Kadyrov stated that he was ready to resign as Head of the Chechen Republic, calling it his "dream" as he found the responsibility to be "too heavy". He announced on 5 December that no Chechen athletes will participate under a neutral flag at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

After an attack on the Church of Archangel Michael in Grozny on 19 May 2018, Kadyrov stated that he had personally overseen the operation to eliminate the attackers. On 26 September, he signed an agreement with Yunus-bek Yevkurov, the Head of Ingushetia, resolving the border dispute between the two Russian republics. The agreement seen as grossly unfair to Ingushestia ignited widespread protests eventually leading to resignation of Yevkurov on 24 June 2019.

Kadyrov was given the rank of major general in July 2020, through an executive order of the Russian President. He added on his blog that he had been transferred from Ministry of Internal Affairs to the National Guard of Russia.

Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov is a Chechen politician currently serving as the Head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly a member of the Chechen independence movement.

He is the son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated in May 2004. In February 2007, Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as president, shortly after he had turned 30, which is the minimum age for the post. He was engaged in violent power struggles with Chechen commanders Sulim Yamadayev and Said-Kakiyev for overall military authority, and with Alkhanov for political authority.

He founded the Akhmat Fight Club and established an international annual freestyle wrestling tournament called the Ramzan Kadyrov & Adlan Varayev Cup. Since November 2015, he is a member of the Advisory Commission of the State Council of the Russian Federation.

Over the years, he has come under criticism from international organisations for a wide array of human rights abuses under his watch, with Human Rights Watch calling the forced disappearances and torture so widespread they constituted crimes against humanity. During his tenure, he has advocated to restrict the public lives of women, and led anti-gay purges in the Republic.

Biography

Kadyrov was born in Tsentaroy, Checheno-Ingush ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. He was the second son in Akhmat and Aimani Kadyrovs' family and their youngest child. He had an elder brother named Zelimkhan (1974 – 31 May 2004), and he has two elder sisters, Zargan (born 1971) and Zulay (born 1972). Kadyrov strove to gain the respect of his father, Akhmad Kadyrov, who was an imam. He claims that he always emulated his father. Akhmad had supported the call for jihad against Russians during the First Chechen War but switched sides and declared allegiance to Russia in the Second Chechen War. In the early 1990s, as the Soviet Union dissolved, the Chechens launched a bid for independence.

During the First Chechen War, together with his father, he fought against Russian armed forces. After the war, Ramzan was the personal driver and bodyguard of his father Akhmad, who became the separatist mufti of Chechnya.

The Kadyrovtsy militia was formed during the First Chechen War when Akhmad Kadyrov launched the jihad against Russia.

The Kadyrov family defected to the Moscow side at the beginning of the Second Chechen War in 1999. Since then, Kadyrov led his militia with support from Russia's FSB state security service (including service ID cards) becoming the head of the Chechen Presidential Security Service. The militia later became known as the Kadyrovites.

Deputy Prime Minister

After his father, the then President, was assassinated on 9 May 2004, Ramzan was appointed as the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic on 10 May 2004.

When his sister was detained by the Dagestan police in January 2005, Kadyrov and some 150 armed men drove to the Khasavyurt City Police (GOVD) building. According to the city mayor, Kadyrov's men surrounded the GOVD, forcing its duty officers against a wall, and assaulted them, after which they left the building with Zulay Kadyrova, "victoriously shooting in the air."

In August 2005, Kadyrov declared that "Europe's largest mosque" would be built in place of the demolished ruins of Grozny's shattered downtown. He also claimed that Chechnya is the "most peaceful place in Russia" and in a few years it would also be "the wealthiest and the most peaceful" place in the world. He said that the war was already over with only 150 "bandits" remaining (as opposed to the official figures of 700 to 2,000 rebel fighters), and that thanks to his father, 7,000 separatists had already defected to the Russian side since 1999. When responding to a question on how he is going to "avenge the murder of his father", Kadyrov said:

I've already killed him, whom I ought to kill. And those, who stay behind him, I will be killing them, to the very last of them, until I am myself killed or jailed. I will be killing [them] for as long as I live... Putin is gorgeous. He thinks more about Chechnya than about any other republic [of the Russian Federation]. When my father was murdered, he [Putin] came and went to the cemetery in person. Putin has stopped the war. Putin should be made president for life. Strong rule is needed. Democracy is all but an American fabrication... Russians never obey their laws. Everyone was stealing, and only Khodorkovsky is in jail.

He remained the First Deputy Prime Minister until November 2005.

Acting Prime Minister

From left to right: President Alu Alkhanov, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Kadyrov at the first session of the Chechen Parliament in December 2005.

Following a car accident in November 2005, in which Chechnya's prime minister Sergey Abramov was injured, Kadyrov was appointed as the caretaker prime minister on 18 November 2005. He immediately proceeded to implement elements of Sharia law, such as declaring a ban on gambling and alcohol production.

In February 2006, responding to the publication of the Mohammed cartoons, he accused the Danes of "spying" and being "pro-terrorist". He also banned Danish citizens from entering Chechnya, effectively banning activity of the Danish Refugee Council, the largest NGO working in the region. Kadyrov is quoted as saying, "That cartoonist needs to be buried alive." He was eventually pressed to overturn this decision by Moscow, a rare example of federal intervention in Kadyrov's rule in the republic.

Prime Minister

On 1 March 2006, Sergey Abramov resigned from the position of prime minister and told Itar-Tass news agency that he did so "on the condition that Ramzan Kadyrov lead the Chechen government." This was followed by a decree of Kadyrov forcing women to wear headscarves; he also rejected a federal appropriation of the republic's budget, demanding more money, and called for all federal forces but the border guards to be withdrawn.

Kadyrov was appointed as the Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic by Alkhanov on 4 March 2006. Shortly after taking office, Kadyrov approved a project to erect a presidential palace on a 30-acre (120,000 m2) plot by the Sunzha River in ruined downtown Grozny. The project, which was also to include a five-star hotel and recreational facilities, was estimated to cost around 1.5 billion rubles ($54 million USD) to build. Later, Kadyrov called for refugee camps scattered across Chechnya to be closed down, calling the refugees "international spies who are interested in stoking conflict between Chechnya and Russia, who are seeking to destabilise the situation in our region". Reuters quoted him as saying that "liquidating the refugee camps will allow us to uncover spies who are working for foreign intelligence services". His cousin Odes Baysultanov was appointed to the position of First Deputy Prime Minister by Alkhanov on 6 March 2006 after being unanimously approved by the Chechen Parliament.

On 5 June 2006, Speaker of the Chechen People's Assembly Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov said at a press conference in Moscow that "there is no alternative" to Kadyrov for the presidency; Kadyrov has "exclusive awards in combat, and has made achievements in improving the peaceful life and in human rights protection. Who could replace him at this stage? Nobody," he said. Later that year, Umar Dzhabrailov, Chechnya's representative in the Federation Council and a close ally of Kadyrov's, urged Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov to initiate a measure calling on Kadyrov to become the republic's president, thereby replacing Alu Alkhanov. The following week, several Russian newspapers reported that a worsening security situation in Chechnya was lessening the likelihood that Kadyrov would replace Alu Alkhanov as the republic's president. Other media, however, reported that Kadyrov continued to strengthen his position at Alkhanov's expense. He was also elected as the Chair of the Chechen Peoples' Assembly in late-October 2006.

On 6 December 2006, Kadyrov said that he would seek the prosecution of the commanders of federal military units responsible for the death or disappearance of civilians in Chechnya (specifically Major General Aleksandr Studenikin). In addition, Kadyrov said the war in Chechnya was unleashed not by the Chechen people but by the Russian leadership. Kadyrov's comments may have represented his government's increasing unhappiness with certain figures in Moscow, who were said to be blocking his elevation to the post of Chechen president. In 2006, leaked cables from an American diplomat recounted a lavish wedding attended by Kadyrov in Russia's Caucasus region in which guests threw $100 bills at child dancers, and which had nighttime "water-scooter jaunts on the Caspian Sea", and a report that Kadyrov gave the newly married couple a "five-kilo lump of gold".

On 5 February 2007, Kadyrov said he did not aspire to become the Chechen president; however, he criticised Alkhanov. Kadyrov also claimed the war in Chechnya was ultimately finished, with "all informal armed groups eliminated". Alkhanov, for his part, criticised "the cult of personality and idealisation of one person", a clear reference to Kadyrov, whose enormous portraits are prominently displayed in Grozny.

President of the Chechen Republic

Kadyrov (right) with Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2008

On 15 February 2007, Putin signed a decree removing Alkhanov and installing Kadyrov as Chechen's acting president.[33] On 2 March 2007, following Putin's nomination of Kadyrov as Chechen president, the Chechen parliament approved the nomination.[34] In the following days, serious changes took place in the administrative setup of the republic, affecting both the top- and middle-ranking officials. Former deputy prime minister Odes Baysultanov (a cousin of Kadyrov) was elevated to the vacant post of prime minister. Critics allege that Kadyrov is actively building his own "vertical of power" in the republic, and encouraging nepotism by placing men of his own family(Kadyrov) in all the leading and important positions.

A Russian daily, Gazeta, reported that according to a poll conducted by the independent Levada Center, only 33 percent of Russians believe that Kadyrov can be trusted, while 35 percent believed that he cannot. Asked whether they thought Kadyrov could normalise the situation in Chechnya and end the bloodshed there, 31 percent said yes and 38 percent said no.

On 14 March 2007, Kadyrov said that human rights abuses were "a thing of the past" in his republic, rejecting new charges of torture made by the Council of Europe. Two days later he accused the federal authorities of torturing detainees. On 19 March 2007, Kadyrov vowed to put an end to all remaining guerilla activity in Chechnya within two months. On 5 April 2007, Kadyrov was sworn in as President of Chechnya. He appointed his maternal cousin Odes Baysultanov as the Prime Minister of the republic on 10 April.

Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque completed in 2008

After the car-bomb attack on Yunus-bek Yevkurov, president of the neighbouring Republic of Ingushetia on 22 June 2009, Kadyrov claimed that the Kremlin had ordered him to fight insurgents there, and during his subsequent visit to the republic on 24 June pledged ruthless vengeance.

In late December 2009, Kadyrov claimed that remaining rebels were getting financed by "The West"; "I officially declare this: those who destroyed the Soviet Union, those who want to destroy the Russian Federation, they stand behind them". He also suggested that Russia should attack Georgia and Ukraine "It's Russia's private affliction; why should we always suffer if we can eradicate this for good?". In early August 2010, Kadyrov had claimed that there were only 70 Islamist militants left in Chechnya. In the same month, he proposed changing the title of President of the Chechen Republic to Head of the Chechen Republic. On 12 August, he also called upon presidents of all North Caucasus republics to petition the State Duma to change their titles, stating that there should only be one president in Russia. The Chechen parliament unanimously approved this change on 2 September.[citation needed] However, Speaker of the Chechen Parliament Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov stated on 4 September that the title will be retained until the end of Kadyrov's term in April 2011.

In February 2011, he invited the players of Brazil's 2002 FIFA World Cup winning team to play a match against a Chechen football team led by Kadyrov. The Brazilian team was named as Brazil XI. In addition, Ruud Gullit was hired by Kadyrov to train FC Terek Grozny.

Head of the Chechen Republic

Kadyrov in 2014

Kadyrov was nominated by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on 28 February 2011 and was unanimously elected for a second term by the Chechen Parliament on 5 March 2011. After his election, he stated that he was going to continue the current course of reviving the republic's economy and society.[citation needed]

On 8 March, he captained a Chechen football team which included current players of FC Terek Grozny, former players of Soviet Union national football team and former German midfielder Lothar Matthaeus in a match against the team Brazil XI which included ex-Brazilian footballers like Romario, Dunga, Bebeto and Cafu. Kadyrov scored twice during the match but his team lost 6–4 to the Brazilian side. Kadyrov said that he had organised the match to show that Chechnya had recovered from years of separatist conflict. He also said that the Brazilians weren't paid to appear but came out of goodwill and in return for a donation to flood victims in Brazil.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Kadyrov at the grave of the first President of Chechnya Akhmad Kadyrov in June 2012

Kadyrov was sworn in as head of the republic on 5 April 2011. In November 2012, he visited Azerbaijan to sign intergovernmental agreements. In December 2012, he ordered the closure of the newspaper Kadyrov's Path after one of its reporters asked Putin a question about the violence once focused in Chechnya spreading to other republics and followed it up by asking about the fate of a local radio station. Kadyrov had reportedly taken a disliking to the question asked by the reporter to Putin.

Kadyrov termed former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's ouster as a "coup d'etat" and a deliberate attempt to exert pressure on Russia through Ukraine, however at the same time placed the blame on Yanukovych for the situation in Ukraine. On 28 February 2014, he affirmed his readiness to dispatch peacekeepers and a consignment of humanitarian aid to Crimea.

After the 2014 Grozny bombing, in which ISIL's hand was suspected, he said that he might block internet in Chechnya as anyone could easily find and listen to a sermon by a jihadist. After Kadyrov went on a tirade against ISIL on Instagram for threatening Russia, ISIL commander Omar al-Shishani put a $5 million bounty on him.

On 26 May 2015, he announced that he was going to star in a Hollywood thriller titled Whoever Doesn't Understand Will Get It which will be directed by a director of famous Hollywood films and also feature global film-stars. Kadyrov in July 2015 denied that ISIL had any territory in Chechnya and claimed that they never will. During an interview in October 2015, he suggested that Putin should send Chechen special forces to Syria claiming they will wipe out ISIL in weeks. On 3 December, he promised revenge against ISIL for beheading of Khasiev. On 8 February 2016, he claimed that Chechen special forces had infiltrated ISIL cells.

Kadyrov announced on 27 February 2016 that he would step down at the end of his second term, which was set to expire on 5 April. However, he later decided to run in the elections that were to be held that September. Putin appointed him as the acting head of Chechnya until the elections in a decree signed on 25 March.

Kadyrov launched his reality show titled The Team with the first episode being aired by Channel One on 30 June. People from across Russia were invited by Kadyrov to register for the contest. The winner of the contest will go on to become head of Chechnya's Agency for Strategic Development.

On 18 September 2016, Kadyrov was re-elected with nearly 98% of the vote. Philip Varychenko, a native of Düsseldorf, was chosen as the winner of Kadyrov's reality show on 22 November and was appointed as a government aide. Kadyrov visited Saudi Arabia on 27 November where he met the Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. During the meeting, they discussed Russia–Saudi Arabia relations as well as issues of common interest. He also visited the United Arab Emirates on the same day and met Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. The two discussed friendship, cooperation and strengthening ties. During his visits, he praised King Salman of Saudi Arabia for his "leadership of the Muslim world and efforts to combat extremism".

On 28 November, he stated that veterans of American special forces would not be allowed to train security and intelligence personnel at a "tactical city" in Gudermes because "they weren't as good as Russian special forces and there were sanctions against all official structures from the United States." On 29 November, he claimed in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that only a few dozen Chechens were fighting with ISIL, adding that most of them grew up in Western Europe. He also stated that measures taken by Chechen authorities had been successful in bringing back many young recruits before they reached Syria.

During an interview aired on 27 November 2017, Kadyrov stated that he was ready to resign as Head of the Chechen Republic, calling it his "dream" as he found the responsibility to be "too heavy". He announced on 5 December that no Chechen athletes will participate under a neutral flag at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

After an attack on the Church of Archangel Michael in Grozny on 19 May 2018, Kadyrov stated that he had personally overseen the operation to eliminate the attackers. On 26 September, he signed an agreement with Yunus-bek Yevkurov, the Head of Ingushetia, resolving the border dispute between the two Russian republics. The agreement seen as grossly unfair to Ingushestia ignited widespread protests eventually leading to resignation of Yevkurov on 24 June 2019.

Kadyrov was given the rank of major general in July 2020, through an executive order of the Russian President. He added on his blog that he had been transferred from Ministry of Internal Affairs to the National Guard of Russia.