A kick, a punch and then another elbow. The defenseless man ends up on the ground and the violence continues. These are the few, horrific seconds of video released by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in which his son Adam beats prisoner Nikita Zhuravel, a 19-year-old Ukrainian accused of burning the Koran who has been imprisoned in Grozny since May. The footage stops, but the beating probably doesn’t. Everyone would be horrified except the bloodthirsty Chechen leader: “Without exaggeration, yes, I am proud of Adam’s act,” he commented. The fact dates back to at least mid-August, when the Chechen human rights ombudsman, Mansur Soltaev, announced this and said he would open an investigation. Kadyrov’s right-hand man, Adam Delimkhanov, had defended what he called an example of “patriotism and the desire to protect religion.” That of Islam, displayed by the leaders of the Chechen Republic, who rely on the radicalization of fundamentalists, turning it into a means of maintaining power by force and suppressing the opposition. Praising Kadyrov Jr.’s exploits is evidence of this. But they are also evidence that the territory ruled by the Chechen leadership dynasty often escapes Moscow’s control. The images posted by the Chechen leader immediately went viral. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov preferred not to talk about it, but some Russian commentators did. Yevgeny Popov, a journalist from Rossiya 1, even exposed himself by denouncing: “You can’t beat people, it’s illegal.” Words that don’t seem to worry the Chechen leader: “There is still discussion on the Internet that Adam Kadyrov beat Koran burner Nikita Zhuravel, an accomplice of the Ukrainian security services. “Did that happen or not?” he says, asking rhetorically. “He beat him and did the right thing.” This is Chechen education.
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