[17][18] Kadyrov has been frequently accused of involvement in the kidnapping, assassination, and torture of human rights activists, critics, and their relatives, within both Chechnya and other regions of the Russian Federation, as well as abroad, through the political use of police and military forces.

According to the city mayor, Kadyrov's men surrounded the GOVD, forcing its duty officers against a wall, and assaulted them, after which they left the building with Zulay Kadyrova, "victoriously shooting in the air.

[54] The following week, several Russian newspapers reported that a worsening security situation in Chechnya was lessening the likelihood that Kadyrov would replace Alu Alkhanov as the republic's president.

[56] On 6 December 2006, Kadyrov said that he would seek the prosecution of the commanders of federal military units responsible for the death or disappearance of civilians in Chechnya (specifically Major General Aleksandr Studenikin).

"All sorts of Emirs and former participants of illegal armed formations, who are now in Europe and whose actions were not aggravated by bloody crimes, have two alternatives: either to come back and serve for the welfare of their homeland, or stay there until the end of their days.

[71][72] The assault on Tsentoroy which occurred on 29 August is considered to have "shattered" the image of Kadyrov's unshakeable rule in Chechnya, as it was the first time in six years that his seemingly impregnable village had come under attack.

[133][134] Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in May 2024 cited Russian opposition sources as stating that Alaudinov had gained a positive reputation within the federal government after helping integrate many former Wagner Group members into the 141st Motorized Regiment following their rebellion, and was favored as a successor to Kadyrov by the defense establishment amid rumors about his ill health.

The foundation operates a building company that services most of the publicly procured infrastructure projects in the republic and also collects a fee from all working citizens of Chechnya, ranging from 10 to 30% of their earnings, raising 3–4 billion roubles per year this way.

A number of Chechens opposed to Kadyrov have been assassinated abroad, and several witnesses (including Artur Kurmakaev and Ruslan Khalidov) report the existence of a 300 name "Murder List".

Kadyrov's spokesman Alvi Karimov rejected the allegations and described the report in the Russian newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, as "absolute lies and disinformation", basing his denial on the claim that "you cannot detain and persecute people who simply do not exist in the republic.

"[193] Vladimir Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also said that there had been no evidence found to support the allegations, adding that he had no reason to doubt Kadyrov's claims that no one under his rule has been persecuted for their sexual orientation.

He was added to United States Department of the Treasury's blacklist which also included a Chechen security official Ayub Kataev along with three other Russian individuals for their criminal involvement in a corruption case uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky.

Novaya Gazeta was made to delete Milashina's article from its website by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russia, which claimed it was fake news and created a threat to the lives of citizens.

"[213] In August 2016, The Wall Street Journal reported that Kadyrov had posted nearly 8,000 pictures on Instagram, which made him the online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing, and social networking service's "most prolific political strongman".

She said that a social worker from a small town in Chechnya made a WhatsApp recording that went viral among Chechen users "imploring" Kadyrov "to look into the plight of ordinary people pushed below the poverty line" by local officials.

[218] In May 2015, Kadyrov gave a stern televised lecture to a group of Chechen men and women who were accused of using the WhatsApp messaging service to comment on the impending marriage of a local police chief to a teenage girl some three decades younger than him.

"[217][219] In its coverage of the incident, The New York Times reported: "Lock them in, do not let them go out, and they will not post anything", Mr. Kadyrov said in a video to a sheepish group of men and women who kept their arms folded across their chests and their eyes firmly on the ground during the harangue.

[219]In December 2015, a female Chechen social worker criticised Kadyrov in an audio message posted on WhatsApp, after her boss tried to force her to allocate some money from her salary to be collateral for her next month's payment.

[227] In an interview with David Scott of HBO, he condoned honor killings of homosexuals in July 2017 stating, "If we have [gay] people here, I'm telling you officially their relatives won't let them be because of our faith, our mentality, customs, traditions.

[230] After French teacher Samuel Paty was murdered by a man of Chechen descent for showing the Charlie Hebdo cartoons in his class, Kadyrov criticized the attack, but also told people to not provoke the religious sentiments of Muslims.

It included allegations of corruption, authoritarian rule, secret prisons, rigging votes in favour of Vladimir Putin, stealing from the country's national budget to enrich himself, enforcing Sharia law over Russian law, his lavish lifestyle, building and maintaining a personal army of about 30,000 fighters, purported ties to organised crime figures, and his involvement in politically motivated murders of journalists, human rights activists and political opponents.

The assembly of scholars issued a fatwa which declared that those who abide by the Kalam, belong to the four madhhabs and follow the path of moral self-perfection espoused by distinguished Islamic teachers, primarily the Sufi sheikhs, were the only true believers.

[244][245][246] Liz Fuller, writing for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, commented that the fatwa seemed to be giving permission to Kadyrov to take any action he likes to punish those whose religious views do not coincide with his own.

"[250] A mixed martial arts tournament involving children was held as an "exhibition fight" on 4 October during the Grand Prix Akhmat 2016 in Grozny and broadcast on Match TV.

[251][252] Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for President Putin, stated that the fact that one of the fights between the children finished with a technical knockout was "a reason for the appropriate oversight agencies to inquire about this incident."

[253][254][255][251][252] Several Chechen officials responded to Fedor's criticism with insults and accusations including Timur Dugazayev, general director of Akhmat MMA promotion, Member of Parliament Adam Delimkhanov as well as Kadyrov himself.

[262] During a government function organized for medium and small-scale businesses in November 2019, Kadyrov called for online users insulting someone's honor to be killed, arrested or intimidated per a BBC Russian Service translation.

[26] The New Yorker says that Kadyrov has adopted various personalities over the years: "the merciless warrior in fatigues who leads special operations to kill anti-government rebels; the jolly Caucasus baron who spars with Mike Tyson and shows off his private zoo; the family man and observant Muslim who has banned alcohol, ordered that women wear headscarves in public buildings, and boasts that his six-year-old son has memorized the Koran.

[293] Rumors started circulating about Kadyrov's health worsening and him being admitted to the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital in mid-September 2023, with Telegram channels operated by the Chechen opposition claiming that he had suffered a kidney failure and was in a coma.

[308] Novaya Gazeta Europe claimed in late-April 2024 that Kadyrov was diagnosed with pancreatic necrosis in 2019 and his condition had recently started worsening, causing the federal government to search for a potential successor.