On February 1 in the evening, a speech made by State Duma deputy Adam Delimkhanov from Chechnya caught widespread attention. He delivered a statement in Chechen on his Instagram.
The telegram channel 1ADAT, which is banned, translated the deputy's words into Russian. Delimkhanov made a vow to decapitate the family members of judge Saidi Yangulbaev and anyone translating the video into Russian. The telegram channel quoted him saying, “If you think you can lift your heads, then by Allah, we will cut off your heads!”
Given the noteworthy and emotional speech, we decided to revisit the biography of Deputy Delimkhanov.
Adam Delimkhanov, born on September 25, 1969 in the village of Benoi, Nozhai-Yurt District, has been referred to as a relative of the current head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. He served in the army from 1987 to 1989 and then worked as a mechanic.
During the late 1990s, Delimkhanov reportedly served as the personal driver of field commander Salman Raduev. However, during the second Chechen war, he switched to the federal forces and became the head of the bodyguard of Chechnya's leader, Akhmat Kadyrov. After the war, he worked in law enforcement and served as the deputy chairman of the government of Chechnya from July 2006 to April 2007.
In 2007, Delimkhanov was elected as a State Duma deputy from United Russia and has held this position ever since. Interestingly, despite his active role in the parliament, he did not speak on Instagram from the State Duma's podium from 2007 to 2021.
In 2013, Delimkhanov made headlines for a physical altercation with another United Russia member, Alexei Zhuravlev. The incident arose from Zhuravlev's request to investigate the legality of erecting a monument to Chechen women from Dadi-Yurt, who perished during the Russian army's resistance in the 19th century. He also expressed concerns about the potential for breeding extremism and separatist sentiment.
On December 3, 2013, a confrontation occurred between the two parliamentarians in the State Duma building regarding this matter. According to Zhuravlev, Delimkhanov threatened and struck him on the head. “My assistants ran up, his guards. A golden pistol fell out of Adam Sultanovich – I don’t know where – and we decided to stop all actions,” Zhuravlev stated.
Adam Delimkhanov's name was associated with the murders of the Yamadayev brothers in the press in 2008 and 2009. On September 24, 2008, former State Duma deputy Ruslan Yamadayev was assassinated in Moscow. Additionally, an assassination attempt was made on Sulima Yamadayev, the former commander of the Chechen battalion Vostok, in Dubai on March 28, 2009. The younger brother, Isa Yamadayev, accused Adam Delimkhanov of orchestrating the assassination attempts, while Delimkhanov referred to these allegations as a “provocation.”
