Putin Ally Rages over US Sanctions Against Mother In Bizarre Video

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov released a video on Thursday demanding the U.S. remove sanctions imposed on his mother, Aymani Kadyrova, last week.

In a video published on Telegram, Kadyrov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Washington's decision to include his mother on a sanctions list showed "a deliberate and cynical disregard for all ethical norms."

The U.S. State Department sanctioned Kadyrova on August 24 as part of a wider effort "to promote accountability for individuals and entities connected to forcible transfer and deportation of Ukraine's children". It said it is sanctioning her and other individuals and entities that have reportedly "played a role in forcibly deporting Ukrainian children from Russia-occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia, and/or transferring Ukrainian children within Russia-occupied areas of Ukraine."

The state department sanctioned the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation (AKF), which it said is used by the Kadyrov family to oversee the "'re-education' of Ukrainian children in camps outside of Grozny in the Chechen Republic."

Kadyrova is a member of the board of directors of AKF, and is therefore "involved in efforts to transfer children from Ukraine to military camps outside of Grozny in Chechnya," it said.

"I had already ceased to be surprised by the illogical sanctions decisions of the US and the West. And suddenly again, now my own dear mother has been put on the list. The entire world knows that she is engaged only in charitable activities," Kadyrov said in his video.

"Well, this only unties our hands. If the [United] States has legitimized such criminal methods for themselves, then we will not place any limits on ourselves. The first and second Chechen [war] campaigns, Georgia, Ukraine—all of these are U.S. projects in the post-Soviet space, not to mention other conflicts around the world, unleashed for contrived reasons."

Kadyrov continued: "But, if the American criminals got away scot-free [for such crimes] elsewhere, this doesn't stand a chance with Russia. Let them amuse themselves with their toothless sanctions against us."

Newsweek has contacted the U.S. State Department via email for comment.

"Quickly, give me an answer, remove the sanctions," added Kadyrov. "And the fact that you imposed sanctions on my mother, I won't forgive you for that. I'll do anything."

Putin is also accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of being involved in the forcible transfer and deportation of Ukraine's children to Russia. All ICC states are legally required to arrest Putin if he steps foot on their territory.

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