11:51, 21 February 2020

Kadyrov's guard appointed deputy prime minister of Chechnya

Ramzan Kadyrov and Abuzayd Vismuradov. Screenshot of the Instagram post by 'Chechnya segodnya' group. https://www.instagram.com/p/B8yxSW8ofUe/

Ramzan Kadyrov has appointed Abuzayd Vismuradov, the head of his guard and close childhood friend, to the post of the deputy chairman of the government in charge of the power block.

Abuzayd Vismuradov is the commander of the "Terek" SOBR (Special Rapid Response Detachment), a unit of the Federal Service of the National Guard ("Rosgvardia") in Chechnya, and Ramzan Kadyrov's personal guard. The sources from the Russian BBC Service, who conducted an investigation, called Abuzayd Vismuradov one of the three Ramzan Kadyrov's closest friends, along with Adam Delimkhanov and Magomed Daudov.

On May 16, 2019, it became known that the "Terek" SOBR detachment and its commander Abuzayd Vismuradov were put on the updated "Magnitsky list".

On February 20, by a decree of the head of Chechnya, Abuzayd Vismuradov was appointed deputy chairman of the republic's government. "In his new post, he will be in charge of interaction with law enforcement structures," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the office of the head and government of Chechnya.

In Chechnya, almost the entire management system is affiliated with Ramzan Kadyrov and people close to him. According to the estimates run by the BBC Russian Service, in Chechnya, out of the 158 top-ranking officials, 30% are relatives of Ramzan Kadyrov, 23% are his fellow villagers, and other 12% are friends of the Chechen leader and their relatives.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 21, 2020 at 00:29 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: CK correspondent