re: #82 CuriousLurker

Wow. Thanks.

I was wondering why a Muslim like Ramzan Kadyrov would be an ally of Putin (even though I know he’s an asshole—human rights abuses, support for honor killings, etc.), but your explanations make it seem less confusing.

Kadyrov used to be among the separatists as a kid, as was his father, the “Chief Mufti of Ichkeriya”. He used to fight the federals, there’s a photo of him among the terrorists, specifically with Basaev. As his father, Ahmad Kadyrov, decided to leave the separatists and join the federals, Ramzan of course went with him. Putin made Kadyrov Sr. the ruler of Chechnya, but the latter was killed by terrorists, so this gave Putin a chance - he made young Ramzan the de facto absolute ruler of Chechnya and thus received a controlled and apparently tamed “puppet king”.

Putin has Ramzan’s 100% loyalty. But this also means that despite the material improvements, Chechnya is a time bomb. It has become a little fascist state-within-state, where Ramzan’s cult of personality is rampant. What happens after Putin goes away? Do you think Ramzan will easily submit to any other president, much less a liberal/pro-Western one?

The story is not over, I’m afraid.