If Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov ordered the assassination of a Georgian journalist, the United States should impose secondary sanctions on entities that do business with Kadyrov.
As a first step, the U.S. government should reach out to Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service. After all, the Republic of Georgia on Friday detained a Russian citizen on suspicion he was plotting to kill a Georgian journalist, Giorgi Gabunia. The Georgian security service says that a suspect initialed “VB” was arrested on suspicion of “preparation of murder by contract.” Reports suggest the suspect is named Vasambeg Bokov and that Ukraine’s SBU security service warned its Georgian counterpart that Kadyrov had ordered Bokov to assassinate Gabunia.
The allegations should be considered credible for two reasons.
First, because Kadyrov has previously threatened Gabunia’s life. Following a July 2019 TV appearance in which Gabunia offered profanity-laden insults against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his mother, Kadyrov took to Telegram. Gabunia’s comments, Kadyrov said, “should be regarded as a carefully planned vile action on the part of Georgia, unless the contrary is proved by the authorities of the country. … Gabunia needs to be hidden behind seven fences, because the first person he meets can do with him what he deserves.”
This might be put down to standard-fare ranting from Kadyrov, who has a great affection for ranting. Except for one thing.
Prior record. Kadyrov is a comfortable killer who, for reasons of Chechen culture, his personality, and political power, values the act of making do on a threat. Yet, while Kadyrov’s propensity for torture and murder is extensively documented, so also is his particular disdain for journalists who criticize him (a disdain Putin shares). Kadyrov has spent part of his coronavirus lockdown (part of which saw him hospitalized in Moscow) engaging in this favored pastime.
Then, there’s the element of Kadyrov defending Putin’s honor.
Kadyrov is Putin’s guy in Chechnya, responsible for maintaining the Kremlin’s ultimate authority in return for Kadyrov’s wide latitude to manage the Russian republic as he sees fit. And Kadyrov knows that showing homage to the main boss is important. So, when Putin is insulted, Kadyrov is always keen to assert himself as Putin’s loyal defender. Sometimes, this involves Kadyrov taking it onto himself to earn Putin’s favor with acts Putin is unaware of, but Kadyrov is also happy to act as a directed cutout or intermediary for Putin’s directives. This was the case with the 2015 death of activist Boris Nemtsov in Moscow and possibly also with the 2019 death of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin.
This brings us back to Kadyrov and Gabunia.
Georgia is facing a challenging moment. With Putin-sympathetic interests holding significant levers of power, the question of whether Tbilisi will remain bound to the democratic rule of law is in doubt. If this plot is corroborated by the Ukrainians, Washington should help defend Georgian democracy. Kadyrov is already under limited U.S. sanctions, but were secondary sanctions introduced on his international business dealings, he would face real pressure. Republicans in the House of Representatives have just unveiled a plan to turn back the rising tide of Putin-orchestrated aggression.
This situation offers a chance to put that plan into action.
