The mysterious death of Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov’s favorite fighter

W hen Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ramzan Kadyrov – the strongman leader of Chechnya and a close ally of Vladimir Putin – gathered his troops in the main square of the region’s capital, Grozny, to signal his readiness to join the war.

Positioned on a dais overlooking the crowd, Kadyrov stood against a backdrop of the most powerful men in Chechnya. Among them was Abuzayed Vismuradov, the dictator’s right-hand man who was the target of sanctions by the United States government in 2019 for his role in Chechnya’s purge of sexual minorities. Vismuradov also happens to be in charge of Kadyrov’s mixed martial arts fight club – an entity also the target of sanctions by the US Treasury.

Behind Vismuradov stood Abdul-Kerim Edilov, an MMA fighter who competed in UFC before being elevated to the rank of deputy prime minister in Chechnya. Though not among those deployed to fight in Ukraine, Edilov stood armed with a machine gun, a tactical vest and a skull cap with the phrase “Akhmat Power”, the battle cry used by Kadyrov loyalists, emblazoned upon it.

He later shared footage of the gathering on his now-deleted Instagram page, which included the caption: We are prepared to live and ready to die by the way of Kadyrov.

The statement was more prophetic than Edilov could have anticipated.

On 29 December 2022, Chechen activists reported that Edilov had died suddenly that day but that the circumstances surrounding his death were unclear. The fighter’s passing was confirmed by fellow Chechen opposition movement 1ADAT, which shared a brief voice message passed along by an anonymous contributor noting that a commemoration would take place that morning in Edilov’s native village.

Edilov’s death drew immediate