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

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.
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.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
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.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.

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