Kadyrov’s son, groomed to be next Chechen Head, uses passports issued under different names

The son of Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov — known publicly as Adam Kadyrov — uses two passports issued under different names and dates of birth, according to an investigation by the independent Russian media outlet Agentstvo.

In one document, Adam Kadyrov is identified as Mokhmad Ramzanovich Kadyrov, and in the other, as Mokhmad Ramzanovich Musaev. The birth dates on the passports differ by one day: 24 and 25 November 2007. No passport issued under the name Adam Kadyrov has been found in the leaked data.

According to Agentstvo, the use of alternative passports with different surnames is a common practice among members of the Kadyrov family.

For instance, in 2017, Ramzan Kadyrov’s daughters — Karina, Tabarik, and Khedi — travelled to Paris using passports bearing the surname Musaeva. These documents contained their real first names, patronymics, and dates of birth, but the surname was changed. These passports are still listed as valid.

Fatima Khazueva, referred to as Kadyrov’s second wife, also took part in the trip, as did their daughter Ashura, who used documents under her mother’s surname, Khazueva. Officially, Kadyrov refers to Ashura as the daughter of his first wife, Medni, and statements from Chechen authorities suggest that she bears the surname Kadyrova.

The Khazueva surname is also used by four more of Kadyrov’s children — Fatima, Eset, Sheikh-Akhmed, and Khusein — who are officially said to have been born to Medni.

Meanwhile, Kadyrov’s official wife Medni owns property in Moscow under the surname Musaeva — the same one used for travel by the older children. Said property is not reflected in any income declarations.

Other Kadyrov relatives also appear to use false documents for travel. For example, Ramzan Kadyrov’s uncle, Magomed Kadyrov, is listed as Khamid in his passport. Similarly, Adam’s brother Eli also reportedly has two passports: one under the name Ali Kadyrov and another under Ali Musaev.

Over the past month, Adam Kadyrov, 17, has become the curator of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Chechen Republic and has received the Russian National Guard’s departmental medal For Combat Merit, which is awarded only to participants in military actions; the OMON Akhmat-Grozny badge; and a certificate confirming his membership in the Arab Arbitration Court.

Adam Kadyrov came under public scrutiny in 2023 after he beat up Nikita Zhuravel, who was accused of burning a Quran, in a detention centre in Grozny. This incident triggered a series of awards: he received the title Hero of Chechnya, medals and orders for services to Tatarstan, Karachay–Cherkessia, and Kabarda–Balkaria, as well as religious orders For Services to the Ummah and For Service to the Religion of Islam (1st Class), along with a number of other honours — some of which, according to the law, he was not eligible to receive due to his age.

Since the age of 15, Adam Kadyrov has led his father’s security service, and in 2023, he was appointed as the ‘curator’ of a battalion formed in Chechnya under the Russian Ministry of Defence, named after Baysangur Benoevsky. He also ‘oversees’ the Sheikh Mansur Battalion and the ‘Russian University of Special Forces’ in Gudermes, where so-called volunteers are trained to fight in the war against Ukraine.

Kadyrov reportedly plans to ‘transfer power’ to his 17-year-old son Adam

The request by Chechnya’s head to establish a dynasty has allegedly become the cause of a conflict between Kadyrov and the Kremlin.

OC MediaElizaveta Chukharova