Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday awarded an honor to the 26-year-old nephew of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Khamzat Kadyrov—who was made Chechnya’s deputy prime minister and minister of property and land relations earlier this year—was given the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland “for the achieved labor successes and many years of conscientious work,” according to a decree. “For the entire Kadyrov family, this is a very significant event,” his uncle, Ramzan Kadyrov, gushed on Telegram. He continued that his nephew “brilliantly copes with the tasks of ensuring operational interaction between the power structures of our region.” A 2018 report found that, of 158 top officials in Chechnya, 30 percent were related to Kadyrov. In 2021, the strongman appointed his then 22-year-old daughter, Aishat, to serve as his culture minister.
