At the start of this war in UkrainePresident of Russia Vladimir Putin ordered Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to seize the government seat in Kyiv and kill Vladimir ZelenskyThis was reported by representatives of Ukrainian intelligence and security.

When Putin needed more soldiers on the front lines, the field commander rounded up thousands of people, sometimes by force, and sent them to the battlefield, according to Chechen residents.

Today, after Russia’s successive retreats in Ukraine, Kadyrov’s men are raising the morale of Russian soldiers and killing alleged spies in occupied Ukrainian territory, sometimes resorting to torture, Ukrainian officials and human rights groups say.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Putin has relied on a number of military men, businessmen and other astute individuals to provide the Kremlin with everything it needs to continue its attacks on Ukraine, including money, training and sufficient troops.

Kadyrov is among the people who showed the greatest loyalty to Putin during the war, while he called himself the “main support” of the Russian president.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that Putin had ordered a Chechen military leader to kill Zelensky, calling the claim “absolutely absurd, baseless and false.” Kadyrov did not respond to requests for comment.

According to documents and interviews with Ukrainian officials and people close to the Kremlin, Putin has been using money from the Russian budget for decades to funnel it to Kadyrov. Today, the 46-year-old military leader is struggling to meet the Russian leader’s demands for a war in Ukraine.

This relationship – indeed one of the most important in Russia – illustrates both the risks and the benefits of helping Putin’s regime.

Kadyrov is responsible for strengthening the Kremlin’s power in Chechnya. For almost twenty years, Moscow sent him billions of dollars, which he used to rule Chechnya as his fiefdom with his well-trained private army.

Continued state funding ensures Kadyrov remains in power in a predominantly Muslim region, where residents and analysts alike say many hate him.

“The support and money he receives from Putin has turned Kadyrov from zero to hero, but also left him vulnerable and completely dependent,” says Chechnya expert Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya. According to her, Kadyrov’s actions this time are based on Putin’s demands.

The Chechen leader enjoys the rare privilege of talking directly to Putin, as the Russian president speaks to him personally, rather than through aides as he does with other rulers, according to a former Kremlin official and another person familiar with the matter.

Regarding his role in the war, which he documents extensively on social media, Kadyrov said Chechnya is worth hundreds of billions of new investments.

Putin “appreciates Kadyrov’s leadership abilities,” Peskov said, but added that “their relationship does not go beyond the relationship between the head of state and the head of the region.”

Peskov said Putin and Kadyrov often talk about the war, noting that two Chechen battalions are on the front lines.

Political analysts say Kadyrov is trying to undermine his rivals in the fight to fund the Kremlin. He even became a fierce critic of the Russian Defense Ministry, publicly blaming at least one general for battlefield failures, a charge that could land the average Russian in jail for years.

^{Source: Wall Street Journal}