Chechen leader and Instagram king Ramzan Kadyrov is vulgar, vicious and very rich. Is he out of control, or just the kind of blunt instrument the Russian president likes to have around?
• Read it in Russian/Читайте эту статью на русском: Самый близкий союзник Путина — и его главная проблема
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On 27 February this year, Boris Nemtsov took his girlfriend out to dinner near Red Square. Nemtsov was 55, greying but boyish. He had served briefly as Russia’s deputy prime minister in the late 1990s, but thereafter had been in perpetual opposition. As Vladimir Putin’s grip on power strengthened, Nemtsov’s weakened. But he kept fighting, running for elections and exposing corruption and mismanagement. In February, he was investigating evidence that, despite Kremlin denials, Russian soldiers were fighting in Ukraine.
Ramzanism is almost the ur-expression of Putinism: equal parts bling, violence, nationalism, kleptocracy and religion
Kadyrov is vulgar, venal, vicious, venerated and very rich: somewhere between Uday Hussein and the Notorious B.I.G.
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Any woman would dream of being his wife, even the fourth. He’s healthy, strong, not poor. He could support a family well
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Kadyrov was constantly on his feet, urging his fighters on. They rewarded him after each bout with a cuddle
Putin’s system can be flexible, and sometimes smart. There are times one needs someone like Kadyrov to do dirty things
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