One of Vladimir Putin's closest political allies is reported to be preparing to flee Russia after angering the Kremlin with secret meetings in the Middle East. Bearded Ramzan Kadyrov is the brutal, infamous Head of the Chechen Republic and has ruled the region in the Caucasus Mountains on Russia's southern border with an iron fist for decades.

Chechnya has suffered civil war in the past with Islamist separatists seeking to breakaway from Russia and Kadyrov rose to power after brutally enforcing Moscow's rule and has been seen by many as President Putin's 'attack dog'. The 48-year-old, who often poses with guns and exotic animals on social media, is widely suspected of corruption and human rights abuses and recently made his own son the head of police.

But despite a long-running pact with Putin, it is reported Kadyrov has been seeking to leave Chechnya and has been secretly transferring assets abroad to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

According to The Sun, Russia's FSB security service informed a "furious" Putin about the clandestine intentions of his close ally.

Kadyrov, who has sent thousands of men to their deaths from Chechnya in the war in Ukraine, is understood to be suffering from poor health, which may be one of the reasons he is seeking to secure a future for his family.

Leading investigative journalist Andrey Kalitin said his health is “very poor” and there are “tough decisions” over who will take over his leadership of Chechnya. Kadyrov's father Akhmad died in 2004 when he was assassinated by Chechen Islamists in a bomb blast in the regional capital of Grozny.

Kalitin said “The Kremlin has two or three candidates" to take over Chechnya and that "Ramzan Kadyrov has one. His name is Adam, he is 17 years old, he has more than 15 awards".

As the war in Ukraine rages on, Chechen leadership have been accused of buying Ukrainian prisoners of war to use them in negotiations for swaps of their own fighters who have been captured.

Kadyrov has also used prisoners to negotiate the lifting of sanctions on his fiefdom

The Sun reports in January 2024 Kadyrov offered to release 20 Ukrainian captives in exchange for the removal of US sanctions against his relatives and horses.