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The struggle for the throne in Chechnya/ Who could be Kadyrov's successor?

2026-02-04 09:13:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Changing leadership in Russia has never been an easy process. In Chechnya, it is even more complicated. In the Soviet era, the transition in the Politburo was always opaque and fraught with internal strife. Nikita Khrushchev, who took power after two years of strife following the death of Joseph Stalin, was overthrown by a coup led by Leonid Brezhnev. He then died in office, as did Yury Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, one after the other in rapid succession. Mikhail Gorbachev finally put a stop to this.

In post-Soviet Russia, Boris Yeltsin winked and nodded in approval at Vladimir Putin and then handed over the presidency to him on New Year's Eve in 1999.

Meanwhile, in Chechnya, after two Kremlin wars against separatists and Islamist insurgents since the early 1990s, the region was finally subdued with the help of the Kadyrov clan. Akhmat Kadyrov, a former rebel fighter, defected to the government and was appointed president, stabilizing the situation in the region for about a year until he was assassinated in 2004.

His son, Ramzan, took power three years later after reaching the age of 30, the constitutionally required age for anyone to be appointed president. Since then, he has ruled with an iron fist, crushing rival clans, creating his own semi-private army and concentrating power and wealth in his own hands.

Putin, who put Kadyrov in the post and relies on him to prevent Chechnya from becoming a major problem for Moscow again, has turned a blind eye to what human rights organizations describe as widespread abuses, a climate of violence and impunity, and disregard for federal law.

Now, Kadyrov's health is in question and speculation about his successor is rife. The Kremlin wants to keep Chechnya quiet, especially at a time when Russia is focused on its war in Ukraine. Kadyrov wants his family to maintain control of power and wealth, while rivals are looking for an opportunity to seize power.

An additional element to all this: By law, the leader of Chechnya must be at least 30 years old, while Kadyrov's eldest daughter is 27 and his eldest son is only 20. This opens up the possibility that someone could serve as interim leader, not unlike the case of Kadyrov himself.

This is a list of people vying to succeed Kadyrov:

AKHMAT KADYROV

The eldest of Kadyrov’s 12 biological children, Akhmat, named after his grandfather, has held important positions overseeing sports and athletic activities. This is consistent with his father’s fondness for fitness and competitive sports such as boxing, mixed martial arts fights and football. In 2022, when he was just 16, he was appointed Chechnya’s official representative in the Kremlin’s official youth and sports organization, known as the Movement of the First. A year later, he held public meetings in the Kremlin with Putin, which many observers interpreted as a sign of support. In 2024, Akhmat was appointed Minister of Sports and Physical Education. He also took charge of Chechnya’s main professional football club, FC Akhmat Grozny. Now 20, he was appointed deputy prime minister of the region in January of this year.

AISHAT KADYROVA

Aishat, 27, has held lower-profile but important positions behind the scenes in the regional government. She was appointed first deputy minister of culture in 2020, and three years later she took over as the region’s deputy prime minister, responsible for social welfare. This gave her oversight over budgets for social spending. She also owned a fashion house called Firdaws, which designed clothing for women and men that was sold in Chechnya and other countries. In 2022, Aishat, along with Firdaws and several other relatives, were sanctioned by the US Treasury Department. In February last year, she surprised observers by resigning from the government, saying that “government work is more suitable for a strong man.”

ADAM KADYROV

Adam, 18, Kadyrov’s third-oldest son, has been gradually promoted by his father to important positions in the Chechen region. He became widely known at the age of 15 when he attacked Nikita Zhuravel, a Russian accused of burning a Quran, who was then sent to Chechnya to stand trial. His father released a video of the brutal beating praising him, and Adam was honored for the action and given the title “Hero of the Chechen Republic.” He was later appointed head of the security service in the regional presidency. In the summer of 2025, he reportedly married the niece of his father’s close ally, Adam Delimkhanov, prompting speculation that it was a political marriage aimed at strengthening family ties. In early January, Adam’s security convoy was involved in a traffic accident in Chechnya. He was seriously injured and then sent to Moscow for medical treatment.

ADAM DELIMKHANOV

A relative and member of the same clan, Delimkhanov, 56, is seen as Kadyrov’s closest ally. He has been a deputy in the lower house of the Russian parliament since 2007, but his relations with some figures in Russia’s ruling circles are strained. Like Kadyrov, he is accused of major human rights abuses. He is often known as “the man with the golden gun,” after a gold-plated pistol reportedly fell out of his pocket during a fistfight with a lawmaker in parliament in 2013. Authorities in Dubai have named him as a suspect in the 2009 murder of Kadyrov’s main rival, Sulim Yamadayev, after police said a gold-plated gun was found at the scene. The charges were later dropped after Kadyrov visited the United Arab Emirates. That same year, Kadyrov told a journalist that Delimkhanov was “my closest friend, closer than a brother,” as well as his preferred successor, even though Kadyrov’s sons were still young children at the time.

MAGOMED DAUDOV

As regional prime minister since his appointment in May 2024, Daudov, 45, would become acting head of the region after Kadyrov’s death, according to the republic’s constitution. A former rebel fighter who also switched sides to the Russian government in the early 2000s, Daudov is said to have won Kadyrov’s trust by bringing him the head of a commander who had claimed responsibility for the assassination of Kadyrov’s father. Daudov is sometimes known as “Lord,” a nickname he says Kadyrov gave him because of the black suit he was wearing when they first met. A former police officer with extensive experience, he is described as carrying out Kadyrov’s orders, while human rights groups accuse him of involvement in kidnappings and torture, as well as leading a violent campaign against LGBT people. Before being appointed prime minister, he had been the speaker of the regional parliament since 2015.

APTI ALAUDINOV

Alaudinov, 52, is seen as someone with close ties to representatives of Russian security agencies, which could create tensions with regional figures and forces if he were to succeed Kadyrov. A police major general, he became deputy head of the region's Interior Ministry in 2011. His future was severely damaged in 2019 when he was detained in connection with an alleged plot against Kadyrov. He lost his Interior Ministry post in 2021 and is reported to have spent some time in Moscow. His fortunes changed again after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In what some describe as an attempt to rehabilitate himself in Kadyrov’s eyes, he joined Russian forces fighting in Ukraine and became commander of the “Akhmat” battalions, named in honor of Kadyrov’s slain father. Officially under the orders of the Russian Defense Ministry, these units have been derided as “TikTok soldiers,” who spend more time posting videos on social media than fighting on the front lines.

RUSLAN EDELGERIYEV, ABUZAID VISMURADOV, IBRAGIM ZAKRIYEV

Analysts and observers have also mentioned these lesser-known figures as potential successors to Kadyrov. An Interior Ministry colonel who has served in Russian security forces inside and outside Chechnya, Ruslan Edelgeriyev, 51, was the region's prime minister from 2012 to 2018. He is an adviser to Putin and the Russian president's special envoy for climate and water resources issues.

A childhood friend of Kadyrov and former head of his security service, Abuzaid Vismuradov, 50, has been deputy prime minister since 2020. He previously headed the Terek security force, which has been accused of abuses. His son, Ramzan, is married to Kadyrov's daughter, Tabarik.

Ibragim Zakriyev, 35, also known as Yakub, is the former mayor of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, and until March 2021 was chief of staff for both Kadyrov – his uncle – and the regional cabinet. In 2023, he was appointed head of the Russian branch of French yogurt maker Danone after the branch was taken over by the Russian state. /REL