One of the richest men on the planet, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, got married in Venice last week. His wedding to TV presenter Lauren Sanchez was so lavishly organized that it was called the “wedding of the century”. Meanwhile, Chechnya held its own “wedding of the century” – the head of the republic celebrated the marriage of his third son, 17-year-old Adam, who recently became secretary of the Chechen Security Council. We tell you what is known about the bride and groom, the ceremony and the guests.
The wedding of Ramzan Kadyrov’s third son, 17-year-old Adam, took place in Chechnya at the end of June. He gained notoriety two years ago when he beat up detainee Nikita Zhuravel, who had burned a Koran, in the Grozny pre-trial detention center. Zhuravel later received a 14-year sentence on charges of insulting the feelings of believers and state treason. And Kadyrov received six orders, the title of Hero of Chechnya and a position as head of his father’s security service. He then became supervisor of the Chechen Interior Ministry and secretary of the republic’s Security Council.
According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, Adam Kadyrov celebrated his wedding to the daughter of his father’s associate, Chechen senator Suleiman Geremeyev, with whom he had entered into a Sharia marriage a year ago. However, “Kavkaz.Realii” claims that Adam’s wife was the granddaughter of another associate of his father, Duma deputy Adam Delimkhanov. “Novaya” at the same time called her the wife of Zelimkhan, Adam’s older brother. According to “Agency”, at the time of the marriage, Delimkhanov’s granddaughter was only 14 years old.
Officially, neither the identity nor the age of Adam’s wife is disclosed. It is only known that her name is Medni (as Delimkhanov’s eldest granddaughter).
The girl’s name was given in Instagram by Aishat, the eldest of Kadyrov’s children. She also said that the wedding will take place in the Kadyrovs’ ancestral village of Akhmat-Yurt (formerly Tsentoroi). Local residents told Kavkaz.Reality that three days before the wedding the entrance to the village was blocked and only invited guests were allowed in. Adam Kadyrov arrived at the ceremony in the latest limited-edition Mercedes, which cannot be officially imported into Russia. On his hand he wore a watch with diamonds, which cost at least two million dollars. Adam traditionally posed with a weapon.
Ramzan Kadyrov said his son’s wedding was attended by Deputy Prime Ministers Denis Manturov and Alexander Novak, the presidential envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District and former Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika, LDPR chairman Leonid Slutsky, the heads of nine regions, and the ambassadors of Iran, the UAE, Turkey and Kazakhstan. However, the TV channel “We Can Explain” claims that at least three of the officials named by name could not have been physically present at the ceremony. On the day of the wedding, the planes used by Manturov when traveling remained in Moscow. Tatarstan’s head Rustam Minnikhanov published a photo from his office. The head of Ingushetia, Mahmud-Ali Kalimatov, opened traffic on a new overpass on June 28 and attended a youth festival.
According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, Ramzan Kadyrov is seriously ill – he was diagnosed with pancreonecrosis in 2019. The publication believes that because of his health condition, Kadyrov is trying to secure the future of his children. That is why, despite their young age, he appoints them to high positions in Chechnya, arranges for them to marry into influential Chechen families, and arranges for their meetings with Vladimir Putin (according to Novaya, Kadyrov views these meetings as a demonstration that “security guarantees extend to the heirs”).
The Russian president did indeed receive the three eldest sons of the Chechen leader in the Kremlin, congratulating them on their weddings: first son Akhmat in 2023, second son Zelimkhan in 2024, and third son Adam in 2025. Each of them was 17 years old at the time of the meeting with Putin. “Novaya” writes that Zelimkhan and Adam were married on the same day in the summer of 2024, but Adam then refused to receive in the Kremlin, citing his young age (Zelimkhan was 17, and Adam 16). The postponed meeting with Putin may explain the fact that Adam’s wedding was announced only now.
It is believed that the Chechen leader considers Adam to be his successor. In favor of this version is Adam’s publicity, the status of the positions he holds (it was he, not his older brothers, that Ramzan Kadyrov made secretary of the Chechen Security Council), the early age of marriage (he married before his older siblings, who had weddings at the age of 17 or 18) and even the scale of the wedding ceremony. “Such lavish organization during the war is punishable in Moscow. <...> That is, here too Chechnya is becoming an absolute exception,” political scientist Dmitry Dubrovsky told Kavkaz.Realia.
