Kadryov, who has ruled the mountainous republic with an iron fist for more than a decade, has stayed in Putin’s favor by crushing regional insurgents while pledging allegiance to the Kremlin leader. Russia has fought two bloody wars with Chechnya since the breakup of the Soviet Union. The Kremlin has funded a massive rebuilding of Chechnya, particularly the capital, Grozny, which was nearly flattened after a decade of brutal fighting with Russia.
Source: latimes.com – Los Angeles Times