The closest associate of Ramzan Kadyrov, State Duma deputy Adam Delimkhanov, who participates in the Russian invasion of Ukraine and was in Mariupol, almost completely destroyed as a result of shelling, was awarded the title of Hero of Russia. Last week, the head of Chechnya published a video in which Delimkhanov, surrounded by Chechen security forces, says that “the special operation to destroy and clean up Mariupol today, one might say, has been completed.”

The decree conferring the title was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The wording is “for courage and heroism shown during a special military operation in the territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Luhansk People’s Republic and Ukraine.”

Kadyrov actively supports the war in Ukraine with posts and videos on his Telegram channel. In a significant part of the video, Delimkhanov appears in the frame.

“My dear brother Adam Delimkhanov recently conducted an interrogation of a prisoner …” – one of the last posts says. On April 21, Delimkhanov recorded a video message from Mariupol, where he stands in front of a burning building surrounded by Chechen security forces.

Delimkhanov then said: “The special operation to destroy and clean up Mariupol today, one might say, has been completed. The order of the country’s president, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, has been carried out. The order of Ramzan Akhmatovich, the head of the Chechen Republic, has been carried out.”

Previously, Putin had given the title to the 64th Motorized Rifle Brigade, which the Ukrainian authorities had linked to the massacres in Bucha near Kyiv.

Delimkhanov is not formally a military man. He is a member of the State Duma from Chechnya. Human rights activists and journalists have repeatedly accused Delimkhanov of serious human rights violations.

When Kadyrov cursed the family of former federal judge Saidi Yangulbaev, it was Delimkhanov who supported him the most. His threat to the Yangulbaev family sounded like this: “Not knowing peace day or night, our bodies, souls, property, offspring are yours. Tearing off your heads, working on you, killing you. We really have enmity, blood revenge”.

In the fall of 2019, Delimkhanov, at a meeting with the Chechen diaspora in Moscow, called for the identification of Chechens around the world who lead a “dishonoring Chechen people” lifestyle. “I tell you, those who live in Europe, America, Canada – stop such people! Solve their issue according to the law with our traditions and customs,” Novaya Gazeta quoted him. Chechen gays who found refuge in Canada perceived Delimkhanov’s call as a definite danger, the newspaper noted.

In April 2009, the authorities of the United Arab Emirates announced the possible involvement of Delimkhanov in the murder in Dubai of the former commander of the Chechen battalion “Vostok” Sulim Yamadayev, Delimkhanov denied these accusations. In December 2012, State Duma deputy Alexei Zhuravlev said that during a fight with Delimkhanov in the parliament building, a Chechen deputy dropped a golden pistol.

During the war in Ukraine, the Hero of the Star awarded by Putin most of all distinguished himself with statements about Mariupol, which was practically destroyed during the hostilities, as well as video footage of interrogations of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

As early as March 21, Kadyrov announced that the Chechen military had begun an assault on Mariupol and that they were led by Delimkhanov.

“After the capture and cleansing of the large Azovstal plant, they proceeded directly to storm the city, freeing quarter after quarter,” Kadyrov wrote in a telegram channel. “My dear brother, State Duma deputy Adam Delimkhanov, who is with me in constant contact”.

“Azovstal” became the last stronghold of the Ukrainian forces, which they still continue to hold. Last week, Putin ordered the storming of the metallurgical plant to be abandoned and blocked.

This did not bother Kadyrov. The main goal has already been achieved, the Ukrainian fighters are blocked in industrial zones and “they won’t go anywhere,” he wrote in another post, while arguing that Delimkhanov planned the assault on Azovstal before Putin’s order.

Kadyrov announced the capture of Mariupol many times before the city came under Russian control – with the exception of the Azovstal plant.

Putin awarded Kadyrov himself the title of Hero of Russia in 2004 – with the wording “for courage and heroism shown in the line of duty.”

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