Chechen leader Kadyrov promoted by Putin

SARAJevo, (Patria) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has promoted Ramzan Kadyrov to Colonel General for his role in the invasion of Ukraine, which the Chechen leader is using to show his loyalty to Moscow, the Guardian reported.

Kadyrov claimed this week that a key ally, linked to the 2015 murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, was injured in fighting in the besieged port city of Mariupol.

A photograph of Ruslan Geremeyev lying in a hospital bed, where Kadyrov visited him, was published.

Nemtsov's family has long insisted that Geremeyev was the mastermind behind the assassination plot. Five Chechen men were found guilty of the murder in 2017, but relatives and allies condemned the trial as a cover-up that failed to bring those behind the assassination to justice.

Investigators named Geremeyev's driver Ruslan Mukhudinov as the mastermind of the murder and said he offered the suspects millions of rubles for the killing, the Guardian reports.

Mukhudinov has since fled, and investigators said after the verdict that proceedings against him were ongoing. Geremeyev, who is the cousin of two Russian MPs, served in the same paramilitary security unit as Zaur Dadaev, a former senior officer convicted of shooting Nemtsov.

The unit has close ties to Kadyrov, although he has never been directly linked to the murder. Geremeyev's appearance on the front lines in Mariupol shows both Kadyrov's strength and the apparent ability of his allies to defy Russian law.

Otherwise, a photograph was recently published on social media, claimed to have been taken in Ukraine, showing Kadyrov performing prayers while guarded by armed soldiers.

Kyiv media claim the photo was taken at a gas station in Moscow.