Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov has been awarded the medal ‘For Contribution to the Development of Science’, adding to a long list of awards and medals he and his family have received.
Kadyrov said on his Telegram channel that he was presented the medal by Dzhambulat Umarov, the president of the Chechen Academy of Sciences. Neither Kadyrov’s post nor statements by representatives of the academy specify what particular achievements in the scientific field the award was granted for.
The award ceremony was accompanied by a report on the activities of the Chechen Academy of Sciences. Umarov presented a book dedicated to Sheikh Mansur, a prominent North Caucasian resistance leader in Russia’s 19th century conquest of the region, which he claimed Chechen MP Adam Delimkhanov had worked on.
Umarov also announced work on a study devoted to the Chechen language. According to him, ‘foreign specialists’ from the US were involved in the project. In addition, criticised the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia.
Umarov previously served as Chechnya’s minister of press and, since 2015, has been involved in shaping the republic’s official information policy. His appointment as president of the Academy of Sciences of Chechnya took place without a public announcement and without coordination with the institution’s staff, RFE/RL reported, citing its sources.
In public statements, Umarov has addressed a number of socially significant issues. He has said that the existence of queer people in Chechnya was ‘genetically impossible’ and has supported the practice of public apologies, proposing that it be introduced at the federal level.
The medal For Contribution to the Development of Science has become at least the 38th award received by Ramzan Kadyrov since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the war, Kadyrov’s collection has grown by at least 13 awards from various organisations. These include an order from the Kurchatov Institute and the Centaur badge from the Council of Chief Architects of Russia. In addition, he has received 10 agency awards, including the titles of Honoured Worker of the Agro-Industrial Complex and Distinguished Emergency Medical Service Worker, conferred two days apart. He has also twice been awarded the title Hero of Chechnya.
For many years, Ramzan Kadyrov has been recognised for ‘scientific achievements’ in various fields. In 2017, he received the Blokhin medal for outstanding work in oncology; in 2021, the Avicenna order for contribution to the development of healthcare and medical sciences; and in 2022, the first-class order For Merit in Dentistry.
In 2006, Kadyrov was elected an honorary academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (RAEN), despite having no published scientific works. Commenting on the title, he said at the time that he considered his ‘best dissertation’ to be the restoration of Chechnya and recognition by the population. In turn, RAEN deputy president Aleksandr Lagutkin explained that the title had been awarded because Kadyrov ‘every day, risking his life, saves hundreds and hundreds of servicemen and ordinary Chechens from death’.
At the end of July 2006, Kadyrov was also elected an honorary academician of the Chechen Academy of Sciences.
Alongside the academic title, Kadyrov also became an honorary professor of the Modern Humanities Academy. In 2016, Russia’s education watchdog revoked the institution’s licence to conduct educational activities.
The 49-year-old Kadyrov has also received six orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin: For Merit to the Fatherland (2nd, 3rd and 4th class), the Order of Aleksandr Nevsky, the Order of Courage and the Order of Honour, as well as medals For the Protection of Human Rights and for strengthening Russia’s penal system.
According to the Russian independent media outlet Verstka, as of August 2025, since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kadyrov and 29 members of his family have received around 150 various awards. Most of them, according to the publication, were awarded by structures affiliated with them.
Elizaveta Chukharova
