The 16-year-old son of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has been given an official role in a new Russian battalion, Kadyrov's right-hand man Adam Delimkhanov announced on Nov. 28.
The teenage Adam Kadyrov will take on the role of "kurator," or observer, of Russia's Sheikh Mansur Battalion, a military unit named after an 18th-century Chechen military and religious leader.
A volunteer battalion in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, set up by pro-Ukrainian Chechen fighters in 2014, shares the same name.
According to Delimkhanov, the Russian Sheikh Mansur Battalion is headed by Ruslan Geremeev, who allegedly took part in the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and is a key suspect in the 2017 murder of Boris Nemtsov.
"This appointment was a natural result of Adam's significant merits in the defense of religious, family and cultural values of our people," Delimkhanov said.
"Despite his young age, Adam acts and thinks like a real man."
Kadyrov, who has led the Chechen Republic since 2007, awarded his son with the highest regional award in October after the minor beat an inmate accused by Russian authorities of supporting Ukraine and burning a Koran.
The detainee had been transferred to Russia's predominantly Muslim Chechen Republic without any legal grounds.
Under Kadyrov's rule, the Chechen Republic has become known as one of the most dangerous parts of the world, infamous for forced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings.
Igor Kossov
(Updated: )
