The leader of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was re-elected to office for a fifth time with nearly 100 percent of the vote, the Russian Central Election Commission announced today, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
Three-day elections for the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, and for governors ended in Russia yesterday, which became a test of the country's tightly controlled political system at a time when Russia's invasion of Ukraine has entered its fifth year. Kremlin-backed parties and candidates won a landslide victory after most anti-war candidates were barred from running, Reuters reported.
Kadyrov has broad powers from Putin to rule Chechnya as his fiefdom in exchange for maintaining stability in the republic, which was the scene of Islamist insurgency in the 1990s, Reuters reported.
According to the Central Election Commission, Kadyrov won 99.85 percent of the vote, up slightly from the 99.73 percent he won in 2021.
International observers have in the past criticized the way elections are conducted in the small Caucasus republic.
Kadyrov, who dismisses Western criticism as an attempt to challenge his rule, regularly stresses his personal loyalty to Putin. The Chechen leader has taken a hardline stance in the war in Ukraine, where fighters from the Chechen battalion "Akhmat" have been fighting since 2022.
His rise to power comes after his father, Akhmat Kadyrov, who was then the head of the republic, was killed in a bomb attack by rebels. Ramzan Kadyrov succeeded his father.
Human rights activists have long accused Kadyrov of human rights abuses, including against journalists and homosexuals, which he denies.