Mufti wants to be the first in Chechnya
To save your people
At the invitation of Putin, the Mufti of Chechnya, Akhmad Kadyrov, and his 22-year-old son Ramzan, shell-shocked during the assassination attempt, flew to Moscow on a special flight. Kadyrov Sr. is scheduled to meet with Chief of the General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin. In an interview with Kommersant correspondent SERGEY DYUPIN, AKHMAD KADYROV did not rule out that the conversation at the meeting could be about personnel changes in the Chechen leadership.

- Ramzan is not only my son. He has been my personal bodyguard since the first war. I myself, as you know, am far from the last person in Chechnya, and I have plenty of enemies. That’s why they wanted to kill me this time too.
About two weeks ago, Ramzan and his people identified those who were preparing the assassination attempt and brought five of them to us in Tsentoroi. At home we interrogated them. And not the way you are asking me now. We have our own methods. Handcuffed from behind - and head into the basement. By morning they confessed everything. We even recorded their testimony on videotape.
As it turned out, my teip relative, division general and Maskhadov’s Minister of Defense, Magomed Khambiev, hired this gang. He collected them, laid $250 thousand on the table, showed a radio-controlled mine and said that it should be placed in the car or under the bed of the mufti. They agreed.
One of them hid a bomb under the clothes of his pregnant wife and brought her to Gudermes. Another kept explosives at his home. The rest began to look for an opportunity to pawn it. We even negotiated with a person from my security. Ramzan managed to prevent the assassination attempt. So the bandits decided to take revenge on us for the thwarted operation. After all, the bastards understand that losing my son is the same as flying without a wing.
“The Koshman administration said that the attempt on Ramzan’s life was almost a publicity stunt. What actually happened in Gudermes?
— Last Friday, Ramzan and my nephew Ruslan Yakhyaev were returning from Gudermes to our ancestral village of Tsentoroy in a VAZ-2106. By the way, we don’t have any other cars - all white “sixes” with tinted windows. We bought these specifically so as not to attract attention.
We walked at a speed of about 140 km/h. This saved them. As soon as we left Gudermes, there was an explosion! The car was thrown into the air and, hitting the ground, it stalled. Ramzan and Ruslan jumped out and started shooting around, fearing that they would try to finish them off. When the dust settled, we saw a VAZ-2105 rushing straight across the wheat field towards Gudermes. They fired several bursts of Stechkin and Kalashnikov shots at it, but they couldn’t reach it.
Then the military arrived. We saw that there were four one and a half meter craters on the side of the road, and wires were stretching from them into the field. Another landmine did not work - it was blown up by sappers. The boys were then taken to a local hospital. Ruslan escaped with a slight concussion, and Ramzan, it seems, had his eardrums damaged by the blast wave.
— The wound does not seem to be dangerous. Why did you decide to treat your son in Moscow?
“The next day, the military commandant of Gudermes called me and said: 'You were asked to call the presidential administration.' When I dialed the number, they said that Putin would speak to me. It turns out that he already knew about the assassination attempt on Ramzan. He inquired about his health and, having learned about the shell shock, offered to transport his son to the Burdenko hospital. That's how we ended up here.
— Your assistants say that you are going to hold some negotiations in Moscow.
— I have a meeting planned with Chief of the General Staff Kvashnin.
— What can the mufti and the general talk about?
— About the war in Chechnya. What else? After all, I’m not Kvashnin’s spiritual mentor! Before the flight, I talked to him on the phone. He said: 'When you come to Moscow, contact me.' This means there are issues that need to be discussed. I don’t even rule out that I will be offered some kind of post, but it’s premature to talk about it. I’m not striving for power, I just want to restore order and save the people. But without becoming the first in Chechnya, I won’t be able to do this.
— In one of your recent interviews, you proposed conducting a purge among the Russian generals fighting in Chechnya. Is this really necessary?
— Chechnya is a small republic. Here everyone knows each other and anyone can be found within two hours. But why are they catching Welders and Tractor Drivers (nicknames of field commanders - Kommersant). At the same time, Basayev with his 1,500-strong detachment is running all over the republic, and Gelayev, who was surrounded in Komsomolskoye, then ends up in the mountains. So someone is interested in this.
- Generals?
- Some of them. That's why the war continues. If they want to finish it, they will finish it.
— But do you support the army’s actions?
- I support. But if the troops leave there, we will have another war. I'll have to raise my own. I can put 700-800 people under arms. This is a lot for Chechnya. But the main thing is not the number of bayonets, but whether the people will follow you. He will follow me.
“But yesterday information appeared that on the outskirts of Gudermes, which you control, Maskhadov held a meeting of field commanders. Is this option possible?
- Possible, very possible. In Moscow, various groups control markets and hotels, but I control only my family and my people.
— Why was the meeting held in Gudermes?
- Yes, they can gather anywhere. Because today, as I understand it, the task of eliminating them is not worth it. So they move freely and meet wherever they want.

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 86 dated May 17, 2000, p. 3

Authors:

Sergey Dupin