MMA fighter linked to Kadyrov involved in deadly Moscow shootout
Umar Chichaev, a MMA fighter and deputy commander of a national guard unit linked to Kadyrov, is currently in police custody after an attack on Russia's largest online retailer.
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Russian authorities have arrested more than two dozen suspects over a shootout in central Moscow that resulted in numerous fatalities. Among those involved were a group of mixed martial arts fighter linked to Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov.
The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon at the Moscow headquarters of Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer and e-commerce provider. According to reports from Russian state media, a “group of 20-30 men” began breaking windows in the lobby of the business centre where the Wildberries head office is located, and “shots were fired in response”.
Two individuals, identified as MMA fighters Islam Elmurziev and Abubakar Mestoev, were reportedly killed during the standoff. Meanwhile, Umar Chichaev, a MMA fighter and deputy commander of a national guard unit linked to Kadyrov, is currently in police custody.
"The court granted the petition of law enforcement agencies and remanded Chichaev in custody for one month and 30 days," Moscow's Basmanny court ruled, according to state-owned TASS news agency.
The shootout came just over a month after Wildberries finalized a controversial merger deal with Russ Group to establish a joint digital trading platform under the new name RWB. Russian President Vladimir Putin personally approved of the deal, even though critics labeled the deal “very strange” due to Wildberries being 20 times bigger than Russ Group.
Reports suggested that the merger was presented to Putin as an opportunity to create “the world’s largest ruble-based digital banking network and payment system,” bypassing SWIFT and rivaling global giants like Amazon, Alphabet and Alibaba. (Russia was cut off from SWIFT due to Western sanctions imposed following the invasion of Ukraine.)
Yet in a surprisingly turn of events, Kadyrov—a staunch ally of Putin—denounced the merger as a "huge mistake" in July, adding that it constituted a “blatant and brazen takeover.”
Kadyrov later shared a video of his conversation with Vladislav Bakalchuk, the estranged husband and business partner of Wildberries owner Tatiana Bakalchuk, in which the dictator vowed to “return Tatiana to the family and protect a legitimate business.”
Within a matter of months, Vladislav Bakalchuk led a group of men, including some of Kadyrov’s MMA fighters, in an attack on the Wildberries headquarters in Moscow. He was later detained and faces a litany of legal charges.
It is worth noting that another Wildberries office was also attacked that same day in Moscow. According to reports, around 30-40 people “in sports and military uniforms” broke into the facility and attacked the guard.
The Wildberries conflict and resulting violence is reminiscent of the glory days of Russian gangsters in the 1990s, where racketeering, extortion and murder were commonplace. However, it also underscores how Kadyrov weaponizes MMA fighters affiliated to his fight club for personal gain.
Since establishing his Akhmat MMA Fight Club in 2015, Kadyrov has utilized MMA as a means for soft power and personal branding. He rubbed shoulders with popular fighters, including numerous UFC champions and boxing legends like Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather, and has even attended several UFC shows outside the United States. Kadyrov has also utilized his fight club as a farming system for his private militia, transforming fighters into hired thugs and soldiers.
In July 2017, I participated in an HBO Real Sports documentary that revealed how Kadyrov uses Akhmat MMA as a farming system for his private militia. More than 5,000 Chechen men trained at Kadyrov’s MMA facilities at the time, though only a handful of them went on to become professional fighters. The rest are funneled into various military and police regiments, where their hand-to-hand combat training can be applied elsewhere. Many have been sent to fight in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Now, as Kadyrov’s MMA empire continues to grow, so too, does his authoritarian sphere of influence.
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Karim, I have a thought about this that you might be able to answer for me. My theory is Putin uses Kadyrov as a form of controlled opposition. He knows Chechnya is sentimentally against Russian rule, so he props up Kadyrov and tolerates a limited amount of anti-Russian attacks, which are tempered by Kadyrov. Basically, it's a "better to have them in the tent than outside" type of strategy. Any thoughts on if this is valid, or if I'm grasping at straws?