President Vladimir Putin has imposed the Kremlin’s writ on every corner of Russia except one: the Chechnya region, whose leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, often pays little heed to the rules that govern the rest of the country.
Putin is now trying to rein Kadyrov in, though alienating him would risk reigniting an Islamist insurgency that he helped the Kremlin leader defeat.
A former Islamist rebel who has ruled the turbulent, mainly Muslim region in Russia’s North Caucasus since 2007, Kadyrov swears loyalty to Putin.
Those public expressions have helped Putin turn a blind eye to Kadyrov’s idiosyncrasies, which include enforcing a strict Islamic “code …read more
Source: Voice of America
