Chechnya hosts official wedding celebration of youngest Kadyrov son

Celebrations are underway in Chechnya to mark the official wedding of Adam Kadyrov, the 17-year-old and youngest son of Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov, Novaya Gazeta Europe has learned.

The celebration was timed to coincide with the first day of the month of Muharram, with Thursday marking the start of the Islamic New Year. Invitees included high-ranking dignitaries from the Middle East. A source in the Russian Foreign Ministry told Novaya Europe that the UAE’s Ambassador to Russia, Dr. Mohamed Ahmad Al Jaber, had interrupted his vacation in Abu Dhabi to fly to the Chechen capital Grozny on Friday to congratulate Kadyrov’s third son.

Kadyrov’s daughter, Aishat Kadyrova, confirmed that the family was celebrating Adam’s wedding in a series of Instagram stories posted on Friday.

According to Novaya Europe sources, preparations for the official wedding ceremony began months ago, with the Chechen authorities aiming to make the wedding a grand event on the political stage too. However, the wedding has had to be postponed at least once. According to a Novaya Europe source familiar with the situation, this was primarily due to attempts by Ramzan Kadyrov to arrange a private audience between Vladimir Putin and his youngest son.

Adam Kadyrov reportedly entered into an Islamic marriage with the daughter of Chechen senator Suleyman Geremeyev on 8 June 2024, the same day his brother Zelimkhan married. Novaya Europe reported at the time that Putin had welcomed both of Kadyrov’s eldest sons, Akhmat and Zelimkhan, to the Kremlin ahead of their marriages in 2023 and 2024.

However, according to Novaya Europe sources, Kadyrov was unsuccessful in arranging a private audience for Adam, who was 16 at the time, in the Kremlin, likely due to his young age. It is thought the pressure to marry the Kadyrov sons off so early was down to their father’s poor state of health, a source told Novaya Europe.

The Chechen authorities have only confirmed that the wedding of the second Kadyrov son, Zelimkhan, who had received Putin’s blessing, had gone ahead to the granddaughter of Adam Delimkhanov, the State Duma deputy for Chechnya.