Mr. Kadyrov, a vassal of Russian President Vladimir Putin , occasionally reveals a soft side, too, cuddling kittens, nuzzling a horse and praying. He answers constituents’ questions and complaints in posts to his 1.9 million followers.
“Our leader knows that the key to developing the region is constant interaction with the people,” Chechen Information Minister Djambulat Umarov said. “That’s how he knows what their problems are, what their worries are.”
In Chechnya, the continuous stream of charming, callous and menacing posts by Mr. Kadyrov and his supporters serves as a tool of political control, a warning to those who would stray from the party line and an example of how social media can be as much a tool of repression as of liberation.
In one post, a rifle’s crosshairs were superimposed over a video of an opposition politician. A supporter’s social-media post showed a man forced to walk on a treadmill in his underwear while praising Mr. Putin.
Mr. Kadyrov, who relies on Mr. Putin for his authority and funding, humiliates opponents online in an apparent display of strength. His power has eroded with Russia’s struggling economy, and Mr. Kadyrov has become increasingly afraid of losing support among his inner circle, say people here.
“His obsession with social media is simple: He likes it, but it also gives him a place to control the news coming from Chechnya for the Kremlin, and show people that he’s the boss,” Human Rights Watch analyst Tanya Lokshina said.
The 39-year-old Chechen leader boasts a social-media operation that employs people who provide support for Mr. Kadyrov and attacks on his detractors, people familiar with the matter said. The work is headed by Magomed Daudov, the Chechen president’s right-hand man, these people said. Mr. Daudov couldn’t be reached for comment.
The intended effect is spontaneity, said a person familiar with the operation. Mr. Kadyrov’s Instagram account looks personal but is assembled with the assistance of cameramen, photographers and writers who help define the president’s online image, including Mr. Kadyrov’s publicity stunts, such as photos with Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona and a birthday bash with actress Hilary Swank, who later said she regretted taking part.
How Chechnya’s President Ramzan Kadyrov bends social media to his will
27 August 2016
Read: 1919
Ramzan Kadyrov, the beefy, bearded president of Chechnya, strikes a macho pose online. He points rifles, threatens political opponents and knocks the tar out of a government underling in some of the nearly 8,000 posts that have made him Instagram’s most prolific political strongman, AzVision.az reports citing the WSJ.
