During a direct line with the population, Ramzan Kadyrov gave the answer to perhaps the main question that the republic wants, but cannot ask: he is alive. And again he will go to the elections of the head

On December 14, Ramzan Kadyrov held a live broadcast in Chechnya dedicated to the results of the year. Republican media announced this event throughout November, but the date of the direct line was still not announced, and at some point doubts arose whether it would take place at all. In November, the public activity of the head of Chechnya was reduced to a minimum, and for the fourth time this year he disappeared from the news flow for a long time.

According to a source from Novaya Gazeta Europe, at the end of November, the head of Chechnya, accompanied by his closest relatives, spent a week in the United Arab Emirates. This fact is confirmed by the publication “Next”, which established, according to data from the AirNav Radar service, that from the end of November to the beginning of December, Kadyrov’s personal business jet made several flights to the UAE and back.

As our source said, the head of Chechnya flew to the UAE on a private visit. In Dubai, he was examined by nephrologists from one of the most famous German clinics. Under their leadership, Ramzan Kadyrov underwent a number of procedures, including blood purification. This is at least Kadyrov’s second consultation with German doctors this year.

The date of the direct line was set immediately after Kadyrov's return, but the format of this event was radically changed compared to previous years. Thus, for the first time during the direct line, associates of the head of Chechnya made detailed reports on the state of affairs, and they mostly answered questions from residents of the republic and journalists. Kadyrov performed the function of a moderator, giving his subordinates the floor. He himself answered only those questions that did not require using statistics and other complex facts. There were prepared information cards on the table in front of Kadyrov, but he did not even try to use them in his answers. His speech was slow, hesitant, and at times unintelligible. There was a feeling that any activity was difficult for him. The comrades present in the hall helped Kadyrov by suggesting the right words or repeating questions loudly, because sometimes, probably due to his inhibited reaction, he did not immediately grasp their essence.

Perhaps it is for this reason that the recording of the direct line was not posted in the republican public pages, while the recordings of direct lines from previous years are available for viewing.

War

Kadyrov's direct line was carefully choreographed and was intended to demonstrate that the Chechen leadership does not shy away from criticism. Therefore, formally during the event, all the most pressing topics were touched upon - from the war in Ukraine and recent drone attacks on Chechnya to the deplorable state of the republican housing and communal services, the level of unemployment, corruption and the health of Kadyrov himself.

However, Kadyrov said very little about the war and its catastrophic consequences for Chechnya, where, in fact, large-scale forced mobilization has been in full swing for a year and a half. In total, in two hours, the direct line spent less than 10 minutes on this topic.

Thus, the head of Chechnya passed over in complete silence the defeat by a Ukrainian drone of one of the symbols of post-war Chechnya - a skyscraper in Grozny City. The affected facility is located only a few hundred meters from Kadyrov’s residence - that is, in this case, not only the air defense system covering military installations in Chechnya did not work, but also the mobile defense systems that guard the residence of the head of Chechnya. He himself explained what happened by saying that the drones “fly at low altitude” and therefore “Pantsir air defense systems cannot detect them.” But, Kadyrov reassured the residents of Chechnya, “there are no dead, there are wounded, but these are just scratches. Our guys are both on the front line and here protecting the peace of the population.”

Novaya Gazeta Europe's source in the FSB Directorate for the Chechen Republic, however, claims that during the December drone attacks and, in particular, as a result of a drone attack on the building of the department of the Achkhoy-Martan Directorate of the FSB for the Chechen Republic, in which the families of seconded employees live, at least one person was killed - the deputy head of the Achkhoy-Martan Department of the FSB Directorate for the Chechen Republic.

In addition to the commentary on the attacks of Ukrainian drones, the topic of the war in Ukraine was raised one more time during the direct line: when relatives of Chechens sent to the front approached Kadyrov. In one case, the wife of a fighter, the mother of two small children, reported that she did not have the means to rent housing. Chechen officials did not believe the woman, and the chairman of the Chechen government, Magomed Daudov, said that any participant in the SVO receives a salary of “at least 210 thousand rubles” and “this is quite enough to rent housing.” Two more appeals came from parents whose sons died or are fighting in Ukraine. These people also asked to solve their housing problems and help them purchase their own homes. For some reason, such appeals did not arouse distrust among Chechen officials. The very next day, a family of pensioners whose son died in Ukraine (and the payments for his death, in theory, would be “quite enough” to solve the housing problem of his parents) were presented with a furnished apartment in the most prestigious microdistrict named after Putin in Grozny. Similar assistance was provided to a mother with many children, who had two sons at the front. The logic of the Chechen officials - which of the relatives of Chechens sent to Ukraine to help and which to refuse - is not entirely clear.

In addition, these appeals themselves raise the question of the effectiveness of the Chechen branch of the Fatherland Defenders Fund, which helps mobilized volunteers and their families.

Unemployment

Chairman of the Chechen government Magomed Daudov reported on the economic successes of Chechnya. Particular emphasis was placed on the fact that registered unemployment in Chechnya fell this year to 3.5 percent (from 5 percent in 2024 and from 8 percent in 2023). At the same time, despite statements by Chechen officials about a decrease in registered unemployment, just last year Chechnya remained the leader among Russian regions in social payments to the unemployed. If in 2023 these payments amounted to almost 8 billion rubles, then in 2024, when, according to the Chechen authorities, there was a three percent decrease in unemployment in the republic, payments to the unemployed even increased and amounted to almost 8.6 billion - 10 percent of all-Russian unemployment payments, which is the maximum figure among all Russian regions.

But this year, judging by Rosstat data for the three quarters of 2025, payments to the unemployed in Chechnya dropped sharply and amounted to just over 1.1 billion rubles (versus 5.2 billion for the same period last year). On the one hand, such a precipitous decline in payments, as one might assume, actually confirms the decrease in the number of officially registered unemployed and corresponds to the general trend for all regions of Russia. However, for the Chechen Republic, which is not experiencing any economic boom, and the indicators for subsidies and budget deficits are approximately the same as always, this is truly a revolutionary achievement.

Experts interviewed by Novaya Gazeta Europe explain this “economic miracle” by the fact that the republic, most likely, has always had inflated official statistics on the unemployed. And when Chechnya began to look really bad against the backdrop of an all-Russian decline in this indicator, recorded since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the republican authorities simply corrected the statistics downward and stopped placing new unemployed people on the labor exchange. In addition, one expert suggested, from mid-2024 in Chechnya, forced recruitment of the male population for the war in Ukraine began to increase sharply. Indeed, the Chechen authorities have repeatedly stated that they view this war as an economic driver for creating jobs in the republic, meaning the formation of more and more republican security units to be sent to the front.

Corruption

The question about elite corruption, or more precisely, about the monopolization by the Kadyrov family of all key businesses in the republic, was raised by the director of the news agency “Chechen Republic Today” Madina Khamidova.

— I have a question from social networks, I read it verbatim. Dear Ramzan Akhmatovich! The authorities of the Chechen Republic are sometimes accused of monopolizing private business. They say that pharmacies and beauty salons are closing. Yandex taxi and the Lenta hypermarket have been squeezed out, and even chickens are prohibited from being imported from other regions. What can you say about this?

- I don’t have a business! — Kadyrov answered. - How big of a business does this have to be for me to run after it?

At the same time, he admitted that his “children run their own businesses, some with chickens, some with corn, they also have their own barns with milk cows...”

“In any business,” said the head of Chechnya, “there must be fair competition.”

What exactly Kadyrov means by this, he himself explained using a number of examples.

Thus, for the sake of promoting the Darba Pharmacy chain of pharmacies, owned by Ramzan Kadyrov’s second wife Fatima Khazueva (Novaya Gazeta Europe wrote about this in detail), more than 50 private pharmacies were closed in Grozny. According to the mayor of Grozny, Khas-Magomed Kadyrov, to whom Kadyrov gave the floor during the direct line, in Chechnya “there were many drug poisonings, and among them were children.

There was no proper storage, temperature conditions were not observed. There were many of them, pharmacies with violations. And without licenses. We closed them. And so we give others the opportunity to work..."

The import of products from other regions that could compete with Chechen products due to price was stopped for similar reasons. Thus, Dagestani chickens, according to Kadyrov, “were unclean, full of chemicals.” In addition, the birds were “non-halal slaughtered”, thereby “spoiling the Iman” ( here: compliance with the religious aspects of Islam . - Ed. ) for the residents of Chechnya.

In Pyatigorsk ice cream, considered the best in the North Caucasus, the Chechen authorities found “pork fat” and therefore banned its import into the republic. Moreover, as Kadyrov explained, “we have our own ice cream factory in Gudermes” ( we are talking about the company Iceberg LLC, the founder of which is the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation . - Ed. ).

Judging by this logic, a similar fate in Chechnya may await chocolates produced outside the republic in the near future. This summer, Kadyrov’s eldest daughter Aishat opened a new business - the Marzo chocolate factory. The founder of the “unique enterprise”, which (like all other enterprises of his relatives) Kadyrov advertises personally on state television, is Trade City LLC, which owns many of the businesses of the Kadyrov family.

The Lenta hypermarket, which was forced to close in Chechnya in 2024, according to Kadyrov, “interfered with the construction of the government complex.” Now in Chechnya they are planning to build a similar, but Chechen hypermarket. Who will it belong to is apparently a rhetorical question.

During the direct line, Kadyrov voiced another reason for the closure of Lenta. According to the head of the republic, Lenta, together with Yandex Taxi, allegedly “facilitated the sale of alcoholic beverages in Chechnya.”

By the way, about Yandex Taxi. For the third year in a row, on Kadyrov’s direct line, local residents have raised the issue of this service, which allowed people to earn at least some money. Due to its affordability and convenience, Yandex Taxi has become a fierce competitor of taxi companies owned by Kadyrov’s third daughter, Tabarik.

As a result, the largest Russian technology company, which provided work to thousands of residents of the republic, was also forced to leave Chechnya.

The most dangerous topic

But, perhaps, the only topic of this direct line, for the sake of which it was actually carried out, even despite the poor state of health of the Chechen leader, was the topic of the upcoming elections of the head of the region in 2026. The question of whether Kadyrov would serve a fifth term was the main one, and the Chechen leader, for obvious reasons, could not delegate the answer to any of his subordinates.

“I will go to the polls if the president proposes and the people support,” Kadyrov quite definitely stated his decision, although he added that he was “fed up with this power and serving the people” and that “new forces, new people would be more interesting, the situation would be better if there were others.”

Novaya Gazeta Europe’s source in the FSB Directorate for the Chechen Republic claims that this whole scene is “pre-orchestrated and rehearsed coquetry.”

“Back in the fall, the presidential administration prepared documents for Kadyrov’s participation in next year’s elections,” says our source. — The list of the future parliament also repeats almost exactly the current composition. What they were given [from Chechnya], they agreed with. And it cannot be any other way while Kadyrov is alive. Moscow is not currently conducting any behind-the-scenes negotiations with Kadyrov’s possible successors, because the potential successors themselves will not dare to do so. It would be too dangerous. It’s not just dangerous—it’s certain death for them.

Another source of Novaya Gazeta Europe in the Chechen government described the situation in the republic as follows: “We have something like Brezhnev’s stagnation: everyone is waiting for the leader to die, but at the same time everyone is afraid not only to discuss, but even to think about it, because there is no more dangerous topic in Chechnya now.”

This behavior of Moscow, according to our interlocutors, gives the Kadyrov family a free hand.

They are absolutely confident that Putin will keep his promise of security guarantees for the family of the head of Chechnya and, more importantly, will agree with their candidacy for a successor.

As Novaya Gazeta Europe wrote in a series of articles devoted to the problem of the upcoming change of power in Chechnya (read the series “ Successor of the Padishah” and “Return of Young Ramzan” ), Moscow has several options for resolving the political crisis in the republic. The Kremlin itself can choose a successor, betting on a candidate from Ramzan Kadyrov’s camp—former militants who became collaborators (such as, for example, the current Prime Minister of Chechnya, Magomed Daudov). Or Moscow will complete the cycle of ruling the republic by these people and return to the Chechen elite, whose representatives have always been on the side of Russia (for example, General Apti Alaudinov is one of them, but he is far from the only one). Both of these options are equally undesirable for Ramzan Kadyrov and his family. And therefore, the Kadyrovs, using all their influence on Putin, are trying to insist on their own scenario and, since the sons of the head of Chechnya are too young, to promote an absolutely loyal candidate under whom the family would retain its power.

According to our source at the FSB Directorate for the Chechen Republic, this is a very likely resolution of the political crisis in the republic. According to him, Kadyrov’s eldest daughter Aishat takes an active part in choosing a successor, whose influence on her father is difficult to overestimate. And her favorite is Putin's climate adviser Ruslan (Abubakar) Edelgeriev.

“The family, first of all, the eldest daughter, believes that the most suitable and safe person for the family after the padishah would be Putin’s climate advisor Edelgeriev,” our source said. — Judging by his career ( last year, Edelgeriev was promoted from presidential adviser to assistant; for example, Alexey Dyumin received a similar position in the presidential administration of the Russian Federation after leaving the post of governor of the Tula region . — Ed. ), and, according to the office ( FSB Directorate for the Chechen Republic — Ed. ), Putin may really be eyeing Edelgeriev as a possible head of Chechnya. Moreover, if the family of our leader also intercedes for him.”

Information from Novaya Gazeta Europe

Ruslan (Chechen name Abubakar) Edelgeriev was born in 1974 in Tsentoroy, the ancestral village of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. He studied at the same school as Kadyrov, two grades older. His mother, Russian by nationality, worked at the Tsentoroevsk school and was a teacher, including for Ramzan Kadyrov. Edelgeriev’s mother, Vera Deryabina, was a member of the Chechen parliament from 2008 (the first parliamentary elections after Kadyrov’s appointment as head of Chechnya) to 2016.

Ruslan Edelgeriev began his career in Chechnya by working as an employee of the Kurchaloevsky District Department of Internal Affairs in 2004. In 2007, under the patronage of Khasan Taimaskhanov, a representative of one of the most influential clans in Chechnya, who had family ties with Kadyrov through child marriages, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Agriculture, and in 2012 - Chairman of the Chechen government.

What is important is that for 11 years in Kadyrov’s inner circle, Edelgeriev was never found guilty of illegal actions or accused of violating human rights. This is one of the few associates of Kadyrov who is not under international sanctions.

In 2018, he was appointed advisor to the President of the Russian Federation on climate change, and in 2024 he became assistant to the president.

Represents Russia at international platforms where environmental and climate issues are discussed. He often meets with both ambassadors and representatives of Middle Eastern countries (Ramzan Kadyrov’s zone of influence) and with high-ranking officials of Western countries. As a representative of Russia, he takes an active part in the preparation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Since 2022, when Ramzan Kadyrov’s health began to deteriorate, it was Ruslan Edelgeriev who began to supervise and actively introduce Kadyrov’s children to the federal establishment, organizing and attending all meetings of Kadyrov’s children with high-ranking officials (including the meeting of Kadyrov’s eldest son with President Putin in March 2023).