Chechnya’s Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation has allocated over ₽40 billion ($510 million) to support Russia’s war against Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion, the republic has announced.
The announcement was made by Chechen Prime Minister Magomed Daudov on Tuesday, who described the spending as part of a border ‘spiritual and moral campaign’.
The funds were directed towards military support as well as assistance to people in Russian-occupied territories.
Speaking at an event marking the second anniversary of the regional ‘Defenders of the Fatherland’ fund, he noted that the money had been used for medical rehabilitation, educational programmes, employment services, and social assistance to the families of soldiers participating in the invasion. According to Daudov, more than 15,000 requests for assistance had been processed by the fund.
Chechnya has been dispensing funds through the foundation since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. The money is reportedly directed towards logistical and material support for military operations as well as assistance to ‘residents of liberated territories’. In March 2025, Daudov reported that the foundation had spent ₽37 billion ($460 million) on military equipment and ‘humanitarian aid’.
The Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation was established in 2004 and is currently headed by Aimani Kadyrova, the 70-year-old mother of Chechnya’s leader, Ramzan Kadyrov. The foundation has long been described as an ‘alternative treasury’ and is under U.S. and EU sanctions for its role in opaque financial schemes. As of 2023, the foundation’s declared assets amounted to just ₽5.3 billion ($67 million) — a figure far smaller than its reported spending.
Despite sanctions, the foundation continues to function. It officially finances military expenses, including the purchase of over 2,000 specially equipped vehicles, more than 8,000 drones, communications equipment, and personal gear for soldiers. The sources of its funding are undisclosed, and official records show zero incoming donations.
Daudov characterised the foundation’s activity as a ‘systemic and deep effort’ to support combatants, bereaved families, and residents of occupied areas. He claimed that more than 11,000 Chechen troops are currently deployed in the warzone, with over 9,000 having received state awards for their service.
In mid-2024, Kadyrov also claimed that Chechnya had spent ₽34 billion ($420 million) on the war. At the time, nearly half of that amount was said to have been directed toward supporting the families of dead or wounded soldiers. Kadyrov’s administration also claimed to have sent ₽1.4 billion in April ($17 million) and ₽2.6 billion ($33 million) in March 2024 alone to support Russia’s war.
Chechnya’s official regional budget was around ₽155 billion ($2 billion) in 2023. However, only about 0.5% of that amount was allocated directly to war-related expenses, as the Kadyrov Foundation is considered an extra-budgetary institution.
Human rights groups and independent observers have noted that the foundation is funded in part by forced ‘donations’ from public sector employees. Spending on weapons and ‘humanitarian assistance’ is not subject to independent auditing. The foundation does not publish financial reports, and there are no publicly available assessments of the legality or effectiveness of its operations.
According to an investigation by the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europe, regional war-related spending across Russia exceeded ₽800 billion ($10 billion) in 2024. In some regions, such as Kursk — where Russian troops have been engaged in fighting since August 2024 — military expenses accounted for nearly 29% of the local budget, surpassing spending on education and quadrupling expenditures on healthcare.
Elizaveta Chukharova
