Thread by @ZidanSports

Ramzan Kadyrov recently dressed his teenage sons in military gear & claimed they would be deployed to Ukraine.

While this is merely propaganda, it emphasizes how the Chechen dictator has weaponized his children for political gain & to secure his bloodline.

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Kadyrov has quite a few children but three of his sons have been paraded around more than the rest: Zelimkhan (Eli), Akhmad, and Adam.

This is the Kadyrov dynasty.

The dynastic propaganda began in 2016, when Kadyrov was celebrating his 40th bday. As part of the festivities, he assigned fights for the three princelings, the eldest of whom was 11. They participated in the pre-fight weigh-in ceremony, including the posturing theatrics.

Less than 24 hours later, all three children stepped into the cage wearing only shorts and 6oz gloves—they donned no rash guard, no padding, nor protective headgear. All 3 won their fights against carefully-selected (& terrified) opponents.

Legendary Russian fighter Fedor Emelianenko was among those who condemned Kadyrov’s event as “unacceptable.” Several days later, Fedor's daughter was attacked by an unknown assailant. Many believed it was retribution for daring to speak out against the dictator.

Since then, Kadyrov’s sons have grown up under the spotlight, regularly paraded alongside their father or shown training alongside former UFC fighters like Abdelkerim Edilov (their glorified babysitter).

Other UFC fighters have visited Chechnya to train with Kadyrov’s children, most notably current UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, seen here training with Adam in 2020.

Kadyrov has long used his fight club and visiting celebrities as a form of “sportswashing,” whereby the dictator uses sports to distract from ongoing human rights abuses. He continues to evolve his strategic approach, as is evidenced by his decision to weaponize his children.

The dictator hopes that by presenting his children as capable fighters from a young age, he will therefore be able to secure future generations of Kadyrov leadership in the troubled North Caucasus republic.

Kadyrov continues to feature his sons in combat sports matches. The sons always win, though naturally those wins are anything but legitimate. According to human rights activists, their opponents are coerced into the fights.

In short: child abuse.

Kadyrov’s dynastic propaganda extends beyond his sons. Magomed Delimkhanov—related to Kadyrov’s henchman Adam Delimkhanov—also competes in boxing, and recently thanked Kadyrov after a win, stating he owes his success to his “dear uncle” Kadyrov.

While Kadyrov employs dynastic propaganda to weaponize his children for political gain, the remainder of Chechnya and its citizens continue to live under the tyrant’s oppression.

Chechnya is anything but free.

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