The undisputed protagonist of Chechnya's political history for over 15 years, leader Ramzan Kadyrov, said he was ready to take an "indefinite and long" break from his post.
In a video posted on Telegram, Kadyrov, 45, Vladimir Putin's loyal soldier, said he "realized he had sat for a long time" in his position of power and that now "the time has come" to to leave.
Completely unexpected statements and reported by the main international media, starting with the Russian Tass, according to which Kadyrov is mulling over his resignation.
"Today I found out that I am, in fact, the 'longest-serving' chief in charge within the Russian Federation. I have been running the republic for 15 years already," he said in his video statement. the others chase me away ".
Finally the request: "I hope you will support me and understand me" The news also had wide coverage on Ukrainian agencies: the UNIAN website wrote that the Chechen leader is ready for an "indefinite and long vacation", while among the Western media the Guardian wondered if what was stated in the video corresponds to the truth,
'Promoted' in 2007 by Tsar Putin to the top of the Chechen Russian Autonomous Republic, Kadyrov's political work has been strongly criticized by the international community and humanitarian organizations, which have not forgiven him for his anti-democratic attitude, his actions that are detrimental to rights human beings, but also the frequent use of illegal arrests and, in more recent years, the accusations of persecution against the LGBT community.
Businesses committed by the notorious 'kadyrovtsy', the paramilitary militia operating alongside him.
Nicknamed 'the Grozny butcher', Kadyrov is also linked - according to the Novaya Gazeta newspaper - to the case of the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who had concentrated most of her work on Chechnya.
torn apart in those years by massacre separatism on the one hand and by the chronic violation of human rights on the other.
Finally, in recent months, his active participation in the war conflict in Ukraine has raised alarm, obviously alongside his powerful protector, the leader of the Kremlin, and in particular his actions on the ground such as the siege of the city of Kiev, the raids to the chemical plant of Azot or to the steel plant of Mariupol, the martyr city occupied by the Russians after weeks of offensive.
War enterprises not at all exempt from criticism from the Western press, which has repeatedly feared the risk of further massacres or cruelties such as those committed in his country to the detriment of the Muslim majority population or in the face of uncomfortable activists and journalists.
