Order bearer of Putin

How awards for Kadyrov and his family were put on the conveyor belt

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ramzan Kadyrov and 17 of his relatives have received 54 different state and quasi-state awards. This is almost one and a half times more than before the war. At the same time, the head of Chechnya receives medals and orders at least once every two months.

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On August 15, 2022, Vladimir Putin signed a decree that introduced the title “Mother Heroine” in Russia. In fact, the president restored the award, established in the USSR at the height of the Great Patriotic War, which was awarded to mothers who gave birth and raised ten or more children. Three months later, another decree of Putin was issued, according to which Medni Kadyrova, the wife of Ramzan Kadyrov, received one of the first two titles of “Mother Heroine” in the history of modern Russia.

This news hardly came as a surprise to the Kadyrov family. Since the beginning of the war, reports about the receipt of awards by relatives of the head of Chechnya appear literally every two weeks. As Vorstka calculated, over the 19 months from February 24, 2022, Ramzan Kadyrov and his 21 relatives received 54 different medals. This is 45% more than during the same pre-war period, when they received 38 awards .

Most often, the awards are received by the head of Chechnya himself. If before February 2022 this happened approximately once every five months (four awards in 19 months), then with the beginning of the war, Kadyrov began to receive medals on average more often than once every two months . Thus, over the past 19 months, Kadyrov received one state award - the Order of Alexander Nevsky, three regional ones - the medal "100th anniversary of the formation of the TASSR" from Rustam Minnikhanov, the medal "100 years of the formation of the Chechen Republic" and the medal "Hero of the Chechen Republic", two departmental ones - the medal "For Military Commonwealth" from the Russian Guard and the medal "Valor and Courage" from the Investigative Committee. In addition, two awards from the self-proclaimed republics appeared in the collection of the head of Chechnya - the Order of Friendship of the " DPR " and the medal "For the Liberation of Mariupol", as well as the Order of Merit for Dentistry from the Dental Association of Russia.

The trend towards an increase in the number of awards may indicate that the Kremlin wants to show its loyalty to the head of Chechnya, believes the leader of the Chechen national liberation movement “United Force” Dzhambulat Suleymanov.

“The presentation of awards is an encouragement. I believe that today, after all, Kadyrov, his units and his political figure are in demand by Putin. The situation is precarious, the situation is not very good for Putin himself. [He] is trying to somehow show that Kadyrov is still in the system,” says Suleymanov. “Although there was a period when Kadyrov became friends with Prigozhin, and this mistake was understood by him in time: we remember how he ran to Moscow, trying to show how loyal he was. But today, it seems to me, this is a kind of game between Putin and Kadyrov - he accepted his pledge of loyalty, fidelity: “Don’t worry, guy, everything is fine, here are your rewards.”

Relatives of the head of Chechnya are also not deprived of attention, although they receive medals much less often. The leaders in the number of awards after February 24 are Ramzan's mother Aimani Kadyrova, daughter Aishat Kadyrova and nephew Khamzat Kadyrov. Over the past 19 months, they have been awarded five times, and all three received state insignia. Thus, on October 20, 2022, Vladimir Putin signed a decree awarding Kadyrov’s mother the Order of Honor, and in July and September of this year, the president awarded his daughter and nephew the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree.

But most often, Kadyrov’s relatives receive internal awards of the republic; over the past 19 months, they account for 35% of all medals and orders (19 out of 55). These are, in particular, the medals “Defender of the Chechen Republic”, “100 years of formation of the Chechen Republic” and the Order of Kadyrov, as well as honorary badges of honored workers of culture, agriculture and human rights in the region.

According to Dzhambul Suleymanov, the head of Chechnya took over the awarding of medals to his loyal inner circle from Putin. “Kadyrov himself is not endowed with such a strong consideration; he basically copies everything. He has tips, there are people assigned to him, but we see that he often projects Putin’s actions. We remember how Putin’s figure grew: he was fishing, he was on a fighter jet, he was on a boat. Kadyrov’s propaganda worked according to the same scheme, that he was such a tough macho. It seems to me that this scheme has been working ever since: projection of what is being done at the top. Naturally, the scale is not the same, but within the republic the same thing is repeated by Kadyrov,” notes Suleymanov.

At the same time, Kadyrov himself receives exactly the same republican awards from local officials. On February 24, he became the owner of the Hero of the Chechen Republic and “100 Years of the Education of the Chechen Republic” medals.

According to the founder of the Chechen opposition movement 1ADAT, Ibragim Yangulbaev, Kadyrov is presented with local awards at every opportunity.

“There is absolutely no difference - a medal, order, diploma or membership in some structure. He always wins awards. A dictator is not only the system under Kadyrov. The dictator loves to receive even minor rewards to show that he is first everywhere . The first in military affairs, the first in sports, the first in culture, he must be the first everywhere with multiple awards. A particularly complex dictator will receive some nameless awards,” says Yangulbaev.

Ramzan Kadyrov has dozens of official state awards, including the star of the Hero of Russia, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the Order of Courage and others. According to Yangulbaev, the head of Chechnya himself claimed in 2020 that he had more than 200 awards. “Verstka” was unable to find confirmation of these words.

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