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Don’t Cry For Me, Chechnya: Colorful Campaign Begs Kadyrov To Stay


Chechen woman holds a picture of Ramzan Kadyrov during a rally in central Grozny earlier this year.
Chechen woman holds a picture of Ramzan Kadyrov during a rally in central Grozny earlier this year.

There are the videos of crying and singing children, the photographs of public employees holding placards, and a human rights ombudsman’s argument that allowing him to resign as Chechnya’s leader would violate the rights of the long-troubled Caucasus region's residents.

Such is the strange state of politics in Chechnya, where Ramzan Kadyrov’s oversized presence as the Caucasus republic's leader may or may not be coming to an end, amid cascading concerns about whether the Kremlin has given him too much free rein to rebuild the war-ravaged Russian region and quash the long-running insurgency that has plagued Moscow since the Soviet collapse.

The bearded, gruff-talking former rebel's term as leader formally ends next month. Given his singular dominance of the region's politics for the past nine years -- and the relative calm that has taken hold there -- most observers of the region expected him to be a shoo-in to stay on.

Last month, however, Kadyrov said in a radio interview that he had no desire to continue as leader. On February 27, he explained his reasoning further, saying “my time has passed.”

“For Kadyrov, this is the peak,” he told the Russian channel NTV.

In the days since, however, a public campaign calling on him to stay in power has taken off, with hints of endorsement or even involvement by government officials. That, in turn, has stoked speculation that Kadyrov’s resignation may be anything but.

The day after Kadyrov’s announcement, a group calling itself the Civic Forum of the Chechen Republic released a statement saying "society sees no alternative to [Kadyrov] and there can be no talk of successors." The statement was published on the official website of the Chechen administration.

A day later, the region’s top human rights official, Nurdi Nukhazhiyev, posted a similar announcement. The dark irony wasn't lost on human rights activists who have documented rampant rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, political assassinations, and collective punishment for relatives of insurgents, during Kadyrov’s tenure.

"The refusal of Kadyrov [to stay on as leader] would be a massive violation of the rights of [Chechen] citizens," Nukhazhiyev wrote.

And then there were the videos and photographs circulating on social networking and chat sites like Whatsapp and Instagram, featuring children singing Kadyrov's praises and, in one case, begging him to stay.

On Instagram -- which Kadyrov has used liberally both to promote himself and issue various edicts and announcements -- a Russian-language hashtag that translates as "Ramzan Don’t Go" had received more than 6,600 different posts as of March 1.

"The strength of Ramzan Kadyrov, Ramzan Kadyrov is cool. We in Chechnya are all patriots. Cheer for us," sang a boy in one Instagram video.​

#Рамзаннеуходи

A video posted by @mimino_inst on

TRANSLATION: A woman is heard asking "What don't you want?" The crying boy answers "I don't want him to go." The woman asks "Who is going?" The boy answers sobbing "Ramzan Akhmadovich." The woman replies "Well, tell him."

#КадыровНашЛидер! #РамзанНеуходи

A video posted by @gbu_csron on

TRANSLATION: The children are chanting "Ramzan Don't Go!

#КадыровНашЛидер! #РамзанНеуходи @kadyrov_95 ☝️☝☝🙏🙏🙏

A photo posted by ДЕТСКИЙ РЕАБИЛИТАЦИОННЫЙ ЦЕНТР (@argunskiy_reab_centr) on

TRANSLATION: The women are holding up a sign saying, "Ramzan Don't Go!

Kadyrov, 39, all but inherited the post following the assassination of his father, Akhmad, in 2004. He also inherited a Kremlin strategy that came to be known Chechenization, which turned Chechen paramilitaries into Moscow’s proxy fighters, taking the lead in battling the separatist rebels and Islamic radicals in the second Chechen war that began in 2000.

​Kadyrov's forces gained a reputation for brutality and have been accused of torturing people and abducting relatives of suspected insurgents, or even burning down houses.

But the Kremlin strategy also included showering Chechnya with money, to help rebuild the capital Grozny and the countryside, which in places resembled devastated battlefield and war zones.

Now the Grozny cityscape is adorned with glass-and-steel skyscrapers, street lamps, and manicured pedestrian walkways, and is home to the largest mosque in Europe -- a reconstruction that Kadyrov has largely claimed credit for.

But Kadyrov has also become a lightning rod in recent months. He has taunted Russia's beleaguered opposition activists, called some traitors, and issued thinly veiled threats against them.

Kadyrov has also called for defying, or even shooting, federal law enforcement forces should any of them enter Chechen territory without his knowledge.

The resignation interview came on the same day that tens of thousands of people marched through Moscow's streets to mark the anniversary of the killing of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. He was gunned down on a bridge just meters from the Kremlin walls, and one of those now under arrest is a top commander in a paramilitary unit close to Kadyrov.

In another Instagram post on February 28, Kadyrov appeared to leave the door open for staying on, noting that, under Russian election law, President Vladimir Putin must first select a slate of candidates from which voters can choose a local leader.

"With full responsibility, I must emphasize that I will fulfill any decision of the President of the Russian Federation, any order," he wrote.

Путь Первого Президента ЧР, Героя России Ахмат-Хаджи Кадырова одобрен на референдуме. Это – единство с Россией, безопасность и благополучие народа. С терроризмом в Чечне вместе с нами боролись сотни тысячи жителей всех регионов России. Среди них тоже были многочисленные жертвы. Чечня является единственным местом в мире, где за короткий срок полностью побеждён терроризм. Сегодняшняя Чечня – результат нашей общей победы над врагом. Ситуация исключительно стабильная, сформированы и эффективно работают все ветви власти. Изменилось отношение россиян к чеченскому народу, они понимают, что наш народ не был виновен в событиях 90-х годов. Когда речь идет об общенациональных задачах, не должно быть места личным интересам. Мы обязаны четко осознавать, всё, что касается Чечни, носит характер общероссийских задач. Сегодня враги России прилагают большие усилия, пытаясь использовать моё имя. В этой связи хочу ещё раз подчеркнуть, что не цепляюсь за власть. Когда ежедневно говорят одно и то же, это надоедает. У народа тоже возникает вопрос, почему это так происходит. Независимо от того, кто у власти, путь Ахмат-Хаджи должен быть продолжен. Ради сохранения стабильности и мира в Чечне, я лично готов работать хоть чернорабочим. Я читаю отклики на своё заявление. Появились предложения провести митинги и иные акции с требованием остаться у власти. Конечно, я рад такой народной поддержке. Ещё раз убедился, что жизнь нужно посвящать народу. Но не нужны никакие митинги. Не для этого я высказал свое мнение. До окончания срока полномочий на посту Главы ЧР еще остается более месяца. Президент России Владимир Путин вносит свои предложения по кандидатурам Главы республики,народ выбирает путем всеобщего голосования. Я со всей ответственностью подчеркиваю, что приму как должное любое решение Президента РФ, любой приказ. Хочу всем выразить огромную благодарность за слова поддержки. Мы являемся командой, а не отдельными игроками, поэтому любой из членов команды способен повести дело Ахмата-Хаджи по указанному им курсу! Да хранит вас Всевышний Аллах! #Кадыров #Россия #Чечня #Власть

A photo posted by Аллах Велик!!! (@kadyrov_95) on

"There isn’t a clear replacement for him. There is international pressure that points to him as an obvious bad guy, the links to the Nemtsov murders, that gets picked up, so maybe there’s an effort to distance the Putin regime from all that, and have him step down," said Olga Oliker, director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"On the other hand, Kadyrov has been Putin’s guy in Chechnya," added Oliker, author of Russia's Chechen Wars 1994-2000: Lessons From Urban Combat.

"Who replaces him? What credibility he has, comes from his dad. So who comes next? Does it fall apart?" Oliker asked. "Does anyone in Moscow really know what’s going on in Chechnya?"

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    Mike Eckel

    Mike Eckel is a senior international correspondent reporting on political and economic developments in Russia, Ukraine, and around the former Soviet Union, as well as news involving cybercrime and espionage. He's reported on the ground on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the wars in Chechnya and Georgia, and the 2004 Beslan hostage crisis, as well as the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

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Written by RFE/RL editors and correspondents, Transmission serves up news, comment, and the odd silly dictator story. While our primary concern is with foreign policy, Transmission is also a place for the ideas -- some serious, some irreverent -- that bubble up from our bureaus. The name recognizes RFE/RL's role as a surrogate broadcaster to places without free media.

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