Blacklisted by the U.S. government, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov tells Americans to calm down. He hasn't even been ordered to march on Washington — yet

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has responded to the U.S. Treasury’s decision to add his name to the so-called “Magnitsky List” for his alleged role in what American officials have classified as “extrajudicial killing, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.”

“The U.S. can rest easy,” Kadyrov wrote on Instagram, explaining, “I haven’t gotten the order yet to march on American soil. [...] I'm proud to be persona non grata to the U.S. intelligence agencies. Actually, the U.S. can't forgive me for devoting my life to the fight against foreign terrorists, including some groups nurtured by American intelligence agencies.”

The Chechen government’s spokesman told the magazine RBC that the new sanctions (which target Kadyrov, Chechen police captain Ayub Katayev, and three Russian nationals tied to the Magnitsky case) are a “wonderful holiday gift.”

• The United States adopted the Magnitsky Act in December 2012, following lobbying by billionaire William Browder on behalf of Sergey Magnitsky, a lawyer who uncovered a massive corruption scheme by Russian officials. The law empowered the U.S. federal government to target individuals involved in Magnitsky’s death, barring them entry to the United States and freezing any of their assets in the country. In late 2016, the law was expanded to apply to human rights violations anywhere in the world. Canada has adopted a similar law.
• The U.S. Magnitsky list publicly includes 49 names currently. In addition to people directly connected to the Magnitsky case, the list also bears the names of Russian Federal Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin, State Duma deputy Andrey Lugovoi, and Chechen parliament speaker Magomed Daudov.