October 30, 2023

A Killer Gets Promoted?


A Killer Gets Promoted?
Ramzan Kadyrov and Ruslan Gereemev. Telegram channel of Adam Delimkhanov.

Ruslan Geremeyev, a former Interior Ministry officer suspected of orchestrating the assassination of Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov, has been appointed commander of a new Chechen battalion, Sheikh Mansur. The announcement was made by Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya, on his Telegram channel.

Adam Delimkhanov, a State Duma deputy from Chechnya, extended congratulations to Geremeyev on his appointment, hailing him as a "worthy representative of the team of the first president of the republic, Akhmat Kadyrov [Ramzan's father]." Delimkhanov also commended Geremeyev for his courage in executing assigned tasks.

Boris Nemtsov, a prominent opposition politician, was fatally and mysteriously shot on a Moscow bridge in 2015. During the investigation, several individuals with ties to Chechnya were detained in connection with the murder. Authorities sought to question Ruslan Geremeyev as well, given that his vehicle was observed on the bridge at the time of the assassination, and one of the detained Chechens confessed to receiving assistance from a Chechen native known as "Rusik" (a diminutive form of Ruslan) in planning the murder. Geremeyev was placed on the wanted list, but efforts to serve him a summons were unsuccessful, and he failed to appear in court. Ultimately, Ruslan Mukhudinov, Geremeyev's former driver, was officially designated as the mastermind behind the crime.

However, according to Vadim Prokhorov, the lawyer representing Nemtsov's family, Geremeyev was the actual instigator of the assassination. Prokhorov said that the officer is also closely related to Adam Delimkhanov, Senator from Chechnya Suleiman Geremeyev, and the current assistant to the head of the republic, Vakha Geremeyev.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Geremeyev became involved in combat operations as part of Chechen battalions. Kadyrov shared a video showing Geremeyev in Mariupol.

It is notable that the formation of a new Chechen battalion led by Ruslan Geremeyev has met with a less-than-enthusiastic response even from pro-war and "patriotic" circles. What appears to concern the public even more than the commander's history is the choice of the battalion's name. Sheikh Mansur, an Islamic preacher and leader of the people's liberation movement among North Caucasus mountaineers from 1785 to 1791, was a prominent figure in an anti-Russian resistance.

It is not coincidental that a Chechen unit bearing the same name is actively engaged in Ukraine on the side of the Ukrainians.

You Might Also Like

Show and Shell
  • October 26, 2023

Show and Shell

A convicted murderer and Wagner mercenary was invited to talk to Russian students.
From Saboteurs to Bureaucrats
  • October 25, 2023

From Saboteurs to Bureaucrats

Russian saboteurs who organized explosions in Europe have reportedly transitioned into official roles within Russian regions.
From Trenches to Schools
  • September 18, 2023

From Trenches to Schools

Russian soldiers returned from the war in Ukraine will give new practical courses on security and defense for schoolchildren.
  • June 14, 2023

"Go Defend Your Homeland"

In Chechnya, law enforcement uses threats and blackmail to send LGBT persons, drug users, and "disloyal" citizens to war.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955