How scary and evil can a political leader be? With Putin, Netanyahu, and Trump in the headlines, the bar is depressingly high… but then there’s Ramzan Kadyrov – the man who runs Chechnya like his own private kingdom.

You may not hear much about Chechnya. It’s a tiny Russian republic of around 1.5 million people, most of whom are Muslim, in the North Caucasus – a mountainous region that’s geographically part of Europe. But European laws, institutions, or rights protections don’t mean much here, as we told you two weeks ago. Chechnya is legally Russian and governed by one man who answers to no one but Putin.

Kadyrov has ruled as president since 2007, after seizing power following his father's assassination by Chechen irredentists. He once boasted over three million Instagram followers (before the platform banned him), and has more than two million subscribers on Telegram, where he often shares videos of himself riding horses, lifting weights, quoting the Quran, or humiliating those who cross him.

He’s built a cult figure status for the big boss – Vladimir Putin – his late father Akhmat Kadyrov, and himself. Their faces are plastered on billboards, their names decorate stadiums, schools, and government buildings. And as per usual in dictatorial regimes, state TV airs documentaries praising the leaders’ childhood, piety, and, in this case, Putin‑aligned patriotism. But alongside this personality cult lie state violence, gross human rights violations, and corruption.

His private militia, the Kadyrovtsy, is notorious even by Russian standards. While formally part of Russia’s National Guard, they are loyal to Kadyrov only. Estimates of their size range from 6,000 to over 20,000 fighters. They’ve been involved in torture, abductions, and extrajudicial killings, with a long track record of abuses documented by Human Rights Watch and others.

Their guilty pleasure? Making sure the whole of Chechnya watches, and takes notes. Forced apologies, public confessions, and staged humiliations are often broadcast online, like grim public-service announcements designed to terrify others into silence.

Kadyrov’s rule is rooted in fear, and maintained through theatre. He films himself riding horses, fencing, and dancing. His teenage son was filmed firing a rocket launcher and 'interrogating' a detainee, then praised by Kadyrov for his 'discipline'.

In Kadyrov’s Chechnya, women are punished for “immoral behaviour”. Families are forced to publicly disown their children, especially if they’re queer or deemed to have shamed their parents. Media freedom is non-existent, and activism is quickly silenced. And no one in Moscow, the Hague, Strasbourg, or elsewhere has stopped him.

None of this is new. Two weeks ago, we exposed Chechnya’s state-backed purge of queer men – abducted, tortured and in some cases handed over for so-called honour killings. Kadyrov denied it all, claiming Chechnya “has no gay people” and that if there were, they should “be taken to Canada”.

Then there’s Russia’s war in Ukraine. Chechnya has become one of the Kremlin’s most obedient sources of cannon fodder. Thousands of young men – many from poor families – have been conscripted or coerced into military contracts. In true Kadyrov fashion, public shaming and coercion are the most powerful weapons to drag them into the battlefield.

They are reminded by high-ranking officials and Kadyrov himself that real Chechen men should be at the frontline, “protecting Russia’s interest, defending their religion, and family values.” Some, including queer men, have been blackmailed into service – “join, or we’ll expose you”.

In Ukraine, the Kadyrovtsy mainly patrol combat soldiers and make sure they don't leave the battlefield. Kadyrov himself has repeatedly boasted about his fighters' involvement, posting footage of them parading through bombed-out towns, shooting into empty buildings, and posing for propaganda clips.

Kadyrov doesn’t hide what he’s doing; he films it, posts it, and brags about it. Beatings, threats, forced apologies, torture – it’s all part of the performance. And still, the world scrolls past. Human rights groups issue reports. Journalists document the horror. But the bulldozers roll on, the Telegram posts keep coming, Moscow applauds, and everyone else stays quiet.