In the last issue of Vlast, the head of Chechnya, Akhmad Kadyrov, told what order he was going to establish in the republic after the withdrawal of Russian troops. To find out what kind of order he established at home, correspondent Elena Samoilova went to visit him.
Warriors of Allah

In the house of Ahmad-Haji, all things bear the imprint of the owner’s personality

We are going to Tsentoroi, the village where the head of Chechnya, Akhmad-Khadzhi Kadyrov, lives. With me in the car are two security guards of the head of the republic, Ruslan and Khamzat. The “Six” with windows riddled with bullets rushes along a bumpy road at a speed of 160 km/h.
- Why are you driving like that? — I ask Khamzat.
“So that the bullet doesn’t catch up,” he jokes, “so many of our guys died on this road.” Last year, Ahmad-Hadji Abubakar's nephew blew himself up. He was 24 years old. And then his other nephew, Lecha. He was 27. Over there, in a deep place, a landmine was planted twice. We missed. The boss doesn't have a scratch. Allah protects him. Ugh, ugh, ugh.
The guards are banging on the butts of their Kalashnikovs.
“It’s difficult to protect him,” they complain.
- Why?
- When they shoot, he doesn’t bend down.
We enter Tsentoroi at dusk. To the left of the country road is a forest of tall poles.
- What is this?
- Our guys are lying here. We have our own cemetery. Do you see the month on the poles? Those who died in Gazavat are buried here.
The house of the head of Chechnya stands on a hillside. Next to it are several trailers - a barracks where the guards live.
— How many people are guarding Kadyrov?
“Sixty,” answers the head of the security service of the head of the republic, Ruslan Alkhanov. “Most are relatives of Akhmad-Khadzhi.” Trusted people you can rely on.
— Many Chechen refugees call you kafirs and national traitors for protecting Kadyrov and collaborating with the Russian authorities.
- These are infidels - militants and Wahhabis. They are putting all sorts of nonsense into the heads of ordinary people. We are warriors of Allah and will lay down our heads for our people.

“I said: kill as many as you can.”
The house of the head of the republic is hidden behind high wrought iron gates. They let me into a spacious courtyard. A young man comes out to meet me.
“Ramzan,” he introduces himself.

The house of the former mufti of Chechnya is decorated with a Muslim crescent

“The youngest son of Akhmad-Hadji,” Alkhanov explains to me in a whisper. “He is his right hand in Tsentoroi.”
We go into the house. Weapons are everywhere here - on the sofas, on the armchairs, on the floor. Under the tall Chinese rose there is a whole arsenal: Stechkins, Kalashnikovs, TTs. As soon as Ahmad-Hadji appears on the threshold, everyone stands up. No one says a word until the head of the family speaks. Children appear in the room. They immediately surround Ahmad-Hadji from all sides.
“My grandchildren,” Kadyrov smiles.
- How many of them do you have?
- Thirteen. From one to 11 years. Karina is the smallest. These are Aishat, Turpal-Ali, Khamzat. For me, being with them is the best vacation. I forget about everything for a while.
- Even about the fact that you have so many enemies? — I ask. “You are being threatened, your family is being persecuted.” How do you live with this?
- I try not to think about it. Tired of it. For the first three months after the appointment, I couldn’t sleep at all and lost a lot of weight. I alone went against Ichkeria.
— Many Chechens accuse you of treason: in the first war, as a mufti, you called them to Gazavat, and then went over to the side of the federals. Is the famous phrase “Every Chechen must kill 150 Russians” really yours?
— I didn’t talk about 150 Russians. I said: kill as much as possible. No limits. Previously, I was sure that Dudayev and Maskhadov wanted to do something for the republic, so I followed them headlong and with my eyes closed. Then I realized that none of them took a single step to protect national interests. They only wanted to make money. Every day in Ichkeria, from 10 to 15 people died from clashes. On the Baku-Rostov highway there were Barayev, Tsagarayev, Akhmadov - all criminals. Maskhadov was afraid of them. We once went with him to Sleptsovsk to fly from there to Saudi Arabia, and we drove along field roads. He said, "Now, at home, we can't go where we want." What kind of president is he after this?

"The Chechens were promised golden taps with camel milk"
Ahmad-Hadji and I leave the house. The guards follow us closely.

There are guards on duty at the high iron gates day and night.

“My relatives were brought here,” Kadyrov gestures around the courtyard with his hand. They made an attempt on my life, but young guys died. I cannot forget one of the first assassination attempts, when five people were killed - all my relatives. I was leaving work. I gave my hat and briefcase to the guys. They got into one car, and I got into another. We took different roads. A few minutes later they were blown up. Probably, the one who saw that I gave them my things radioed that I sat down with them. I'm so tired of this blood. I often think with horror that the war could have been prevented. It was only necessary to prevent a campaign against Dagestan. Then, in 1999, I told Maskhadov: you must stop people, don’t let blood be shed. Maskhadov replied that Basayev would not return to Chechnya. He said: I will conquer Dagestan, and then I will go to Azerbaijan, I will not return back - you can put an army on the border. I said he'll be back. And Basayev came. And Maskhadov accepted him. Out of fear of him.
— Why do you think the Chechens followed extremist leaders then, and many still continue to consider them national heroes?
“They came to people and said: we will build an Islamic state.” In a year you will have Saudi Arabia here. They promised them golden taps with camel milk. This is how people were killed.

"Maskhadov has three people left"
We return to the house. Our conversation continues over tea.
— How do you assess the current balance of power and relationships among field commanders?

The head of Chechnya is always surrounded by security, the majority of whom are his relatives. Security chief Ruslan Alkhanov (below) calls them warriors of Allah

— Maskhadov issued an official decree, which demoted Gelayev to private. I have an audio tape where he openly accuses Basayev and Udugov of serving international extremist organizations and calls them traitors. What kind of subordination or unity can there be among them when he talks about them like that? In the last tape addressed to Abalaev, which we managed to intercept, Islam Khasukhanov complains how hard it has become for them: “They are being persecuted everywhere, the signalmen have been removed, the bastard Kadyrov is concerned about his safety and has taken control of all areas. And 'zero first' (Maskhadov's call sign. - Kommersant ) doesn’t help - if he gives me a ruble, I’ll send you fifty kopecks.”
— In your opinion, it turns out that Maskhadov has no one left at all?
“The only one who obeys him is Magomed Khambiev, the Minister of Defense and commander of the National Guard of Ichkeria. In recent months, his people formed Maskhadov’s support brigade. The other day, she actually passed away too. In the group that recently laid down arms in Tsentoroi, 15 people are Khambiev’s people. Maskhadov has three people left who bring tea to him in the kennel.
“And according to the intelligence services, after the death of Khattab, Maskhadov convened a council of field commanders, at which the highest military Majlis Shura was formed.
“I don’t think that Maskhadov gathered anyone and formed some kind of shura. I don't know where this information comes from. And if we have it, rather than sum it up and make statistics, wouldn’t it be better to gather them all in a bunch and make salam aleikum to them?
— Do you agree that Abalaev’s death is a serious blow to the militants supporting Maskhadov?
- No, I don’t agree. It’s just good that the surname is gone. Abalaev is a division general, ex-candidate for president of Ichkeria, commander of the Sharia Guard! In fact, he was sitting in the village of Zandak, Nozhai-Yurtovsky district, and did not fight. The fact that he died is not such a big loss.

"We never knew what elections were"
— How did you meet Khattab?

— During the first war, when I was a mufti, I came to Basayev in the village of Dargo. There I saw him for the first time. In a private house. I don't know whose house it was. I remember Khattab was sitting and playing on the computer. There were several more Arabs there - his personal guard. Then he was not a thunderstorm, a loud personality. He became famous when a column of Pskov riot police was ambushed. So stupid! Without escort or reinforcements, in a place where it was possible to smash the entire column with two grenade launchers. And after the war, Khattab began to take everything into his own hands. He opened militant training bases near Serzhen-Yurt, in Vedeno, and in Urus-Martan. It was a kind of emergency course. I wanted to open them in Shali as well, but it didn’t work out. There were six field commanders there, and they were against Khattab's intentions. We wrote a letter to Maskhadov: if you give him permission, then we will go against everyone.
— Is it true that Khattab and Basayev were friends?
- Yes. Khattab was Basayev's sworn brother. When Khattab got married, the wedding took place in the house of Basayev’s father.
— Did you know Shamil Basayev well?

Ramzan - the youngest son and right hand of Ahmad-Haji

- Yes. The first time I saw him was in Grozny on January 5, 1995. I came to the presidential palace, there in the basement were Maskhadov, Zakayev - their whole party. Basayev was sitting in Maskhadov’s office. We met there. And then we met from time to time. We had a defense committee - the State Defense Committee. At these meetings we collided. When I was in the Vedeno area during the first war, I always stopped to spend the night with Basayev. His father never sat down until I sat down. Basayev’s younger brother also treated me very well. They respected me a lot. However, I was a spiritual mentor. Everyone treated me like that. But Basayev bought me my first car. In 1995 he came to me in the winter, let’s go to Kurchaloy, he says, and we’ll buy you a car. We went. There was no market, however. Then he gave me $7 thousand, and then I bought a Niva. Basayev is an unpredictable person. So he seems calm, normal, and then you look - he’s completely abnormal. An angry, arrogant man. Could not take anyone into account. Even in large meetings, he acted as if no one was around. He often had a headache, and he sat and massaged his head. Maskhadov was nothing to him. But Khambiev could have said anything to Basayev, called him names. He endured. I was surprised by this. Once we left Maskhadov’s place, we were walking along a small corridor in the old residence, someone said to Khambiev: you once said that Basayev is not a man. And Basayev was one and a half meters away from us. Khambiev turned and pointed at him: “And I still say that he is not a man.” Basayev remained silent. Unclear. Khambiev himself is a coward.
— How did you end up in opposition to Basayev and Khattab?
— The split occurred during the presidential elections in 1997. That's where we split up. Someone stood behind Yandarbiev, someone behind Udugov, someone behind Maskhadov. The groups became isolated and did not converge. We have never had normal elections, and we did not know what it was at root. All the candidates - as far as I remember, there were 13 of them - gave me an oath on the Koran that after the elections they would rally around the chosen one. But they broke their oath. But Maskhadov, as a weak-willed person, was unable to take control of the situation. Then we lost relations with Basayev. He then reproached me: you are a mufti and should have remained above all of us.

“I was offended when the price on my head dropped”
— Did Khattab and Basayev threaten you?
- Not directly. But Shamil first announced $500 thousand for my head, then $200 thousand. I was offended when the rate dropped. When I reached $1 million, I thought: okay, that means I’m worth it.
—Who can you name among the leaders of the resistance who are ready to lay down their arms?

Ahmad-Haji has four children and thirteen grandchildren

— Khambiev, Maskhadov and Basayev remained there. Basayev will not give up. There is a lot of blood on him, and he knows that he will not be forgiven. Maskhadov and Khambiev can lay down their arms, but only after Basayev, when he is gone.
- Don’t want to embarrass yourself in front of him?
- Not really. So that he doesn't kill them. Why do you think that laying down your arms is shameful? The other day, 37 members of illegal armed gangs came to me in Tsentoroi and laid down their weapons near my house. The commander of the United Group of Forces in the North Caucasus, Vladimir Moltenskoy, flew in specially to shake their hands.
— Did you guarantee the security of the militants who surrendered and, they say, even gave them certificates of immunity for the period of investigation?
— I didn’t give any information. We compiled lists of those who laid down their arms and submitted them to the prosecutor's office. This is done in their interests. So that this doesn’t happen later: the neighbor will be offended by him and write to the authorities that he is a militant. And now he will receive a certificate that he has been amnestied and will live in peace.

There are often photographs in the house in which Ahmad-Hadji is taken with President Putin. Adjacent to them are photographs of murdered relatives (on the left is 24-year-old Abubakar Kadyrov, who was blown up last year)

“So, if the investigation doesn’t find anything against them, they will simply be released?”
- Is it better to kill them? Then the ranks of the militants will again be replenished by their relatives, who will avenge them.
“But they weren’t running around with toy machine guns.” There's probably blood on each of them.
- Understand. Specific facts must be proven for each. As in the case of the Tractor Driver: they caught him and proved that he killed people, cut off their arms and legs. And if there are no such facts, then the cases will be closed. These people are not even on the wanted list. I have already talked to President Putin about these guys. I asked him to take personal control of the situation. If those guys who came to me to hand over their weapons are convinced that they will not be persecuted, I think such events will be repeated. I am very grateful to the president for supporting me.

Madina
It's well past midnight. Ramzan's wife Madina appears in the doorway.
-Are you going to bed soon? - She timidly turns to me.

Ahmad-Haji and his sons are often given weapons

Then I remember that according to Caucasian laws, the mistress of the house cannot go to bed before the guests, so I say goodbye to Akhmad-Hadji and follow her.
-Are you leaving tomorrow? - Madina asks.
— Yes.
- To Moscow?
— First to Ingushetia. From there we will fly to Moscow.
— I have never been to Moscow. I haven't been anywhere at all.
A minute later Aishat appears in the room.
“He doesn’t want to sleep—that’s all,” Madina complains.
She puts the girl on the sofa and sits down next to her.
“Automatic machines, these pistols are lying all over the house,” Madina glances at the mountain of weapons under the Chinese rose, “I already remember all the numbers, I know all the shops, the horns.” I'm tired. You can't go anywhere. I sit at home all the time. Karina also gave birth at home. We didn’t go to the hospital, even though my blood pressure was terrible. This is dangerous. They were afraid that the bandits might steal the child. I really want a quiet life.

Magazine "Kommersant Vlast" No. 21 dated 06/04/2002, page 30

“Basayev bought me my first car”