Adam Kadyrov, the 17-year-old son of Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov, has received the medal ‘Defender of the Chechen Republic’. The award was presented to him by Chechnya’s Interior Minister Aslan Iraskhanov during a ceremony marking the end of the 12th Open Championship in Tactical Shooting.
The award was reported in Ramzan Kadyrov’s Telegram channel. Adam did not personally take part in the competition — he only participated in the awards ceremony for the winners and contestants.
According to Ramzan Kadyrov, his son took part in the ceremony ‘on his behalf’ as assistant to the head of the republic, secretary of the Security Council of the Chechen Republic, and curator of the Russian University of Special Forces in Chechnya.
Adam Kadyrov awarded the KRA team (an abbreviation of Ramzan Kadyrov’s initials), representing the Security Service of the Chechen Head and ‘headed’ by the 17-year-old himself, for taking first place in a separate category.
Second place went to the Special Police Regiment named after Akmat Kadyrov, the father of Ramzan Kadyrov — the Akhmat-1 team, which has repeatedly been mentioned by human rights defenders in connection with torture and extrajudicial executions.
Third place was awarded to another team from the same regiment, Dustum-1 — which used the former call sign of Ramzan Kadyrov, and is now the nickname of his son Adam Kadyrov.
Certificates of appreciation were awarded to teams from Kuwait and Bahrain.
Adam Kadyrov also handed cups and medals to the Belarusian Interior Ministry team, a military unit from Russia’s Smolensk region and the special forces unit of the National Guard from the occupied Kherson region in Ukraine.
The medal ‘Defender of the Chechen Republic’ was established in 2004 and, according to its statute, is awarded ‘for personal courage and bravery displayed in carrying out military, service and civic duty, and protecting the constitutional rights of citizens in the Chechen Republic in conditions associated with risk to life’. It is unclear for what exact merits Adam Kadyrov received it.
Among the young Kadyrov’s other awards are the title Hero of the Chechen Republic, the republic’s the highest award, conferred to him in October 2023, as well as the Order of Akhmat Kadyrov, the highest state award of Chechnya, the Order Daymekhan Siy (‘Honour of the Fatherland’), the Order For Service to the Religion of Islam 1st Class, the Medal For Contribution to the Development of the Russian University of Special Forces 1st Class, the Medal For Combat Distinction from the National Guard and others. In April this year he also received the National Guard’s Medal For Combat Distinction from the director of the National Guard of Russia.
Adam Kadyrov began actively receiving awards and official posts after an incident in September 2023 which saw him beating prisoner Nikita Zhuravel, who is suspected of burning a Quran. Ramzan Kadyrov publicly endorsed his son’s actions.
According to research by independent Russian media outlet Verstka, since February 2022 Ramzan Kadyrov and his close relatives have received at least 146 different awards; the head of Chechnya himself has more than 80, and his 17-year-old son ranks second in terms of the number of awards — 16.
Earlier, in April this year, Adam Kadyrov was appointed curator of the Chechen Interior Ministry, where he was granted authority to work with the police, law enforcement forces, and counter-terrorist and anti-raid structures. In addition, he continues to ‘curate’ the University of Special Forces.
Adam Kadyrov obtained the appointments despite being underage and having no political experience. It is not even clear whether he has completed school — it was publicly announced that he started first grade in 2015, but there has been no information about his academic progress. Ramzan Kadyrov has not stated whether his son completed school externally, so Adam Kadyrov should currently only be in the 10th grade.
Independent Russian media outlets have claimed in recent months that Ramzan Kadyrov is grooming Adam Kadyrov as his successor and is seeking a legal or political mechanism through which power can be transferred. However, under Russian law, direct transfer of official government positions to family members is not permitted.
Elizaveta Chukharova
