Putin has seen the burly, red-haired 39-year-old former rebel as essential to keeping Chechnya stable after two separatist wars, and has given him privileges no one else in Russia’s tightly controlled political system has seen.
Things began to change when opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, was shot dead on Feb. 27 while walking across a bridge a stone’s throw from the Kremlin.
Kadyrov stepped up his attacks by posting a video featuring Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister turned Putin’s foe, and fellow opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza seemingly seen through the crosshairs of a rifle.
Everyone in Russia’s political …read more
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
