IS THE STRONGMAN WEAK?

If Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is wobbling, that matters to Ukraine and to Vladimir Putin

- ALLAN WOODS

In recent years, Ramzan Kadyrov, pictured in 2016, has become an influential figure in Russia, including the war with Ukraine.

When a strongman stumbles, the world braces for a fall — and the fallout.

The latest to teeter is Ramzan Kadyrov.

The authoritarian leader of Chechnya runs the Russian republic, where two brutal wars were fought after the breakup of the Soviet Union, as his personal fiefdom. He does so with the blessing and aid of Vladimir Putin.

They are two men whose political ascensions are linked. Their fates may be as well.

In his 17 years in power, Kadyrov’s regime has quashed Chechen separatists, insurgents, activists and opponents, all in particularly brutal manners and without reproach from the Kremlin.

In Kadyrov’s Chechnya, human rights workers and journalists are harassed and attacked, members of the gay community are beaten, charged and publicly humiliated, prisoners are tortured and critics are snuffed out, according to allegations from Human Rights Watch, testimony before the European Court of Human Rights, and the U.S. State Department.

Kadyrov has also dispatched Chechen military battalions to Ukraine, where they’ve been accused of inflicting rough justice on Russian deserters in addition to fighting enemy Ukrainian troops.

Lately, though, Kadyrov hasn’t been looking so robust.

There have been frequent and extended absences from public view and dramatic weight gains along with the swelling of his face, hands and stomach.

And although Kadyrov has never been an eloquent public speaker, his most recent appearances have been marked by nearly incomprehensible mumbling and a listless, groggy or drugged look.