It’s Crunch Time for This Putin Ally’s Infamous Nepo Babies

While Kremlin-appointed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov reportedly circles the drain with a terminal diagnosis of necrotizing pancreatitis, the spotlight has shifted to his three notorious sons, including his 16-year-old teenager Adam, who was reportedly given a major promotion this week.

On Sunday, just a week after news of Kadyrov’s diagnoses broke, the Chechen leader announced that his 16-year-old son, Adam Kadyrov, will become the supervisor of a Chechen special forces training school in Gudermes, according to the Current Time. “He is closely familiar with the activities of the famous university, so I believe that he will cope with his assigned responsibilities very well,” Kadyrov said in a post on social media.

Ramzan Kadyrov’s effort to prop up his son isn’t a surefire sign that he is grooming him to take on larger responsibilities in the region. For the people of Chechnya, however, the looming power vacuum and possible succession fight could determine the the future of a republic that has been wracked with countless reports of human rights violations, kidnappings, and torture incidents. (The United States has sanctioned Kadyrov for alleged involvement in “gross violations of human rights,” including extrajudicial killings.)

Read more at The Daily Beast.