Chechnya's Throne of Swords

Rumours are spreading in Russia about a possible transition of power in Grozny. Ramzan Kadyrov would like to impose one of his children as his successor, but the age limit for the presidency is 30, with his eldest daughter being 27 and his eldest son only 20. Among the other candidates in the background is 52-year-old General Apti Alaudinov, commander of the Akhmat brigade and well connected in Moscow's upper echelons

Grozny (AsiaNews) - The health of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, a staunch supporter of Vladimir Putin, appears increasingly precarious, and rumours are multiplying in Russia about a possible transition of power to Groznyj.

The Kremlin has a great need for stability in the North Caucasus, especially in the context of the ongoing war against Ukraine, where Chechens are among the main protagonists of the Russian aggression.

Kadyrov himself began the succession games some time ago, trying to place his children and relatives in key roles for his conquest, but there is fierce competition that is directed directly at Moscow or seeks support within the republic.

After all, succession in Russian history has always been problematic, both at the centre and in the peripheries, in the days of the tsars and even in the Soviet period, until the transfer of the presidency from Yeltsin to Putin, who imposed the immovable “vertical of power”.

Chechnya was the first issue to be dealt with by the new tsar, having gone through two civil wars since the early 1990s, pitting separatists and Islamic terrorists against the Kremlin's power, until Putin managed to crush all revolts thanks to the Kadyrov clan.

The former rebel Akhmat switched sides to Putin and became president of Chechnya, only to die shortly afterwards in a mysterious attack in 2004, which brought his son Ramzan to the throne, whom his father wanted to keep away from power because of his excessive violence.

Ramzan Kadyrov was then 30 years old, the minimum age to become president, a role he has held for over two decades with a policy of continuously stifling rival clans and increasingly fervent support for Tsar Putin and his wars in the former Soviet areas.

Ramzan has formed an almost private army, consolidating his power by securing all the funds and wealth of the region, which has become in practice a personal fiefdom with the protection of the Kremlin, which turns a blind eye to his abuses of power and the atmosphere of violence and impunity on which Chechnya, the “mafia safe of the party” in Soviet times, is based.

Kadyrov would like to impose one of his children as his successor, but the age limit remains set at 30; his eldest daughter is 27, and his eldest son is only 20, but scenarios based on older traditions cannot be ruled out, recalling the 17 years of age of the first Tsar Ivan the Terrible at the time of his coronation in 1547.

The eldest son Akhmat, heir to his grandfather's glorious name and the first of the president's 12 children, is therefore being proposed. He has already held numerous important positions, although he has mainly been involved in sport, especially boxing and wrestling, and in January he became deputy prime minister of the republican government.

Twenty-seven-year-old Ajšat is the eldest of the 12 heirs, deputy minister of culture since 2020 and one of the deputy prime ministers for the past two years, with responsibility for social issues. She is also an entrepreneur and owner of the fashion house Firdaws, which is under US sanctions, and last year she left the government, stating that “it is a job for strong men”.

The strongest of Kadyrov's offspring is 18-year-old Adam, now in hospital after a serious accident while driving the lead car in his semi-presidential motorcade. He became famous at the age of 15 for savagely beating a man accused of burning the Koran, and since then his father has been promoting him as his ideal heir.

Then there are the historical candidates such as 56-year-old Adam Delimkhanov, a member of the Moscow Duma and Kadyrov's right-hand man, responsible for relations with the Kremlin elite and known as “the man with the golden gun”, who is also suspected of high-profile murders.

Or Magomet Daudov, the 45-year-old prime minister who would be entrusted with the country in the event of the president's death, and the most active Chechen in recent times, 52-year-old General Apti Alaudinov, commander of the Akhmat brigade and well connected in Moscow's upper echelons, starting with the Ministry of Defence.

The war in Ukraine has revived his fortunes after a negative period, but analysts point to other lesser-known candidates such as 51-year-old Ruslan Edelgeriev, a colonel very close to Putin, 50-year-old Abuzaid Vismuradov, Kadyrov's childhood friend, also deputy prime minister and “guardian of the president”, and 35-year-old Ibragim Zakriev, former mayor of Grozny and Kadyrov's nephew, who now heads the Russian branch of Danone after the nationalisation of the French yoghurt company.

The game is on, and the shadow of the swords of the Chechen throne stretches all the way to the Kremlin.