海角大神

With one video, Russia鈥檚 Chechnya problem seizes the spotlight again

When Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on his Telegram channel last week that showed his teenage son brutally beating up a Russian prisoner, Mr. Kadyrov said he was 鈥減roud鈥� of his son鈥檚 actions.

But many Russians were shocked, and the Kremlin was visibly irritated.

The episode is just the latest of many听in recent years to highlight the basic conundrum at the heart of the arrangement ending a decade-long cycle of wars between Russia and the formerly separatist Caucasus republic.

Russia鈥檚 military devastated and pacified Chechnya, and the Russian government expended vast subsidies to reconstruct Chechnya鈥檚 war-ravaged cities. But Moscow did little to reintegrate the republic with Russia鈥檚 constitutional order, and instead left Chechnya in the hands of a leader who swore fealty to Russia but otherwise had a free hand to run the republic as he wished.

The result is a maze of contradictions, a statelet where Russian law is openly flouted and the official ideology is at odds with the Russian constitution. Yet it is in Russia, and to fight alongside Russian troops in the war against Ukraine.

鈥淭he regime installed in Chechnya was intended to establish peace and insure Moscow鈥檚 control,鈥� says Andrei Kolesnikov, a Carnegie expert who continues to live and work in Russia.

But very quickly it became more of a feudal system in which Mr. Kadyrov enjoys absolute personal power, Chechen clans are his vassals, and his rule is enforced by brutal methods, Mr. Kolesnikov adds. Mr. Kadyrov repays Russian President Vladimir Putin for Moscow鈥檚 lavish subsidies with total loyalty. 鈥淭he tasks set by Putin were solved by such methods, and he was satisfied. Kadyrov demonstrates absolute loyalty, and that is why he is permitted more than the heads of other regions.鈥�

Oleg Orlov, chairman of the now-banned Memorial human rights center, says the odd relationship of Chechnya to Russia is not an accident, but part of Mr. Putin鈥檚 design for governing his huge, fractious country.

鈥淎t some point I thought Chechnya was a tiger that had escaped from the Kremlin鈥檚 control,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut then I realized that it鈥檚 part of Putin鈥檚 system of balances and counter-balances. Even if the situation with Chechnya is bad for Russia, it鈥檚 good for Putin.鈥�

But it comes at the price of constant embarrassment, as inner-Chechen reality and Mr. Kadyrov鈥檚 wayward behavior repeatedly underlines the difficult and disconnected nature of Chechnya鈥檚 place within the Russian Federation.

鈥淐hechnya is a separate state鈥�

After Mr. Kadyrov posted the video of his son beating an incarcerated man,听 Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov opened his daily briefing with a shrug: 鈥淚 will say from the start, I will not comment on the story about Kadyrov鈥檚 son,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to.鈥�

Mr. Orlov says the Kremlin faces a dilemma. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not the first time Kadyrov has put the Kremlin in a stupid situation. They can neither support nor condemn him. Peskov鈥檚 reaction shows they are at a loss for what to do.鈥�

Many other Russian politicians and thought leaders offered what was, for many, . 鈥淭his is a challenge to Russia鈥檚 whole legal system. They have shown that they can commit crimes and nothing will happen to them,鈥� Eva Merkacheva, a member of Russia鈥檚 Presidential Human Rights Council.

The abused prisoner was a Russian man, Nikita Zhuravel, from Volgograd, a city far from Chechnya. Last May, Mr. Zhuravel was charged with 鈥渋nsulting the feelings of religious believers鈥� at the behest of Ukrainian intelligence services, it was claimed.

The alleged crime was local, but Russia鈥檚 Investigative Committee used strained reasoning to transfer the incarcerated man to Chechnya for 鈥渇urther investigation.鈥� How Mr. Kadyrov鈥檚 son happened to gain access to the prisoner, and given the opportunity to beat him, has not been explained.

鈥淔or Russian intellectuals it emphasizes that Chechnya is a separate state, outside the laws of Russia,鈥� says Grigory Shvedov, editor of , an independent online news site that covers the Caucasian region. 鈥淥rdinary Russians usually don鈥檛 think about Chechnya, or care whether it recognizes Russian law. But this case draws attention, because it shows that any regular Russian person could be sent to Chechnya and end up a similar situation. ... This person, Zhuravel, might be innocent, just a victim, but he was just taken to Grozny and treated in such a way.鈥�

Even many Chechens appear to have been shocked by the arbitrary violence depicted in the video, Mr. Kadyrov鈥檚 declared pride in his son鈥檚 actions, and the absolute impunity it suggests. Chechnya鈥檚 state TV channel on its Telegram channel last week asking viewers how they react to the younger Kadyrov鈥檚 actions. The first wave of responses showed 84% took it negatively, and even after the results began to shift, 55% were still condemning it a full day later.

Despite such embarrassments, some analysts say the Chechnya model has been a success for the Kremlin, one that perhaps holds implications for the final outcome of the ongoing war in Ukraine. It took a long time to subdue Chechnya, the human costs were horrific, and the expense of rebuilding it exorbitant. Yet the long-term result is a territory under reliable control, with a pacified population and a loyal leader.

鈥淭he Chechnya model not only looks like a success from Moscow鈥檚 point of view,鈥� says Mr. Shvedov. 鈥淚t comes down to the question of price: Was it worth it? And it looks like the answer is yes, that鈥檚 a price [the Kremlin is] willing to pay.鈥�