Putin: Ramzan and Akhmad Kadyrov deserve their Hero of Russia titles

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at his annual news conference, explained his reasons for awarding the Hero of Russia title to Ramzan and Akhmad Kadyrov.

The Russian leader noted that the incumbent Chechen leader’s life is in danger every day, as that he personally takes part in various combat operations.

"I don’t sign decrees awarding the Hero of Russia title for no reason," he noted.

Putin recalled that the Ramzan Kadyrov’s father Akhmat Kadyrov "came to me himself but he did not come to surrender." "He came to build relations with Russia," he said. The Russian president stressed that Akhmat Kadyrov said then that he had thought it would be better for Chechnya to "build a union with Muslim countries but he came to realize later that it was not so because they sought to impose their will on Chechnya." 

"And since Russia never suppressed religious freedom in Chechnya and the Chechen people’s way of life, the choice was clear for Kadyrov," Putin noted. 

He recalled that Akhmat Kadyrov was killed by terrorists. "He was killed by terrorists. What did he die for? For Chechnya, the Chechen people and Russia," the Russian president emphasized.