Kadyrov honors daughter with medal for strengthening Chechnya-Donbas ties
The daughter of the Checken leader Aishat Kadyrova has been awarded the "Memory of Akhmad-Haji Kadyrov, First President of the Chechen Republic" Medal. Local TV channel ChGTRK reported the award on the evening of Friday, November 1. Kadyrova received the medal for "strengthening cooperation" between Chechnya and the occupied "regions of Donbass." The award was personally handed to her by Ramzan Kadyrov. In October 2023, her father appointed the then-24-year-old Aishat as Deputy Prime Minister of Chechnya for social affairs. This isn't the first accolade for Kadyrova's eldest daughter.
In February 2024, she was awarded the Order of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) . The order's description highlighted her personal visits to the region "on a humanitarian mission, visiting Chechen fighters on the front lines, and dispatching delegations for aid deliveries to residents in need." In March 2020, she received a medal from her father for "Merit to the Chechen Republic" for her "contribution to the development of national culture and art." Aishat Kadyrova also heads the fashion house Firdaws, founded by Medni Kadyrova, the wife of the head of Chechnya.
In the summer of 2020, Aishat Kadyrova was subjected to U.S. sanctions, imposed on her father for systematic human rights abuses in Chechnya, including torture and extrajudicial killings. In December 2021, Kadyrova, then serving as the Minister of Culture of the Republic, received a medal from her father for "Defending Human Rights."
Strengthening cooperation between Chechnya and Donbas included the looting of Mariupol enterprises by Ramzan Kadyrov's appointees.
These enterprises were handed over to them as "trophies," reported The Insider on November 2, citing data from the Republic project. Chechens under the command of special forces leader Apti Alaudinov "oversee" the removal of construction waste and debris in Mariupol, as explained to journalists by St. Petersburg entrepreneurs executing these contracts.
Furthermore, Kadyrov's associates are transporting equipment and steel from the Ilyich plant in Mariupol, devastated by combat. According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), these actions are controlled by an appointee and advisor to the head of Chechnya, Vakhit Geremeev, whose unit officially provides "security" to the enterprise. Specifically, WSJ journalists report that Geremeev's subordinates have sent production lines, consisting of modern equipment worth over 200 million euros, to Russia.
The 16-year-old son of the Chechen leader, Adam Kadyrov, who in September 2023 beat prisoner Nikita Zhuravel in a Chechen detention center – the latter detained for burning the Quran – was awarded the title of Hero of the Chechen Republic in early October of that year, recognizing his "outstanding achievements for the region and the Chechen people in performing a heroic deed."
In early November 2023, he received an "important" and "responsible" position within his father's security service, as reported by the Republic's Information Minister, Akhmed Dudayev. A commander in the Chechen Interior Ministry's special regiment clarified that the position was head of the security department for the Chechen leader. Later, the teenager received Tatarstan's second-highest honor, the Order of "Duslyk," for "significant contributions to strengthening interethnic and interfaith peace and harmony."
Additionally, in May 2024, Ramzan Kadyrov awarded his nephew, 27-year-old Khamzat Kadyrov, the Order of Courage, as announced by Chechen State Duma deputy Adam Delimkhanov, noting that the award was authorized by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Delimkhanov mentioned in a post that Khamzat Kadyrov has been actively supporting Chechen fighters since the onset of Russia's war on Ukraine. Khamzat Kadyrov serves as Deputy Prime Minister of Chechnya and Minister of Property and Land Relations for the region, as well as being an aide to his uncle in the security sector. Last year, he was honored with the Order of "Merit to the Fatherland" II degree and was also awarded the title of Hero of Chechnya.