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Flight trackers have for years linked a large luxury jet to Ramzan Kadyrov, the authoritarian president of the Russian republic of Chechnya who is accused of rampant human rights abuses. But there’s been no definitive proof — until now.
On May 20, Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency mistakenly published ownership data for the Airbus A319-133. Within hours, the agency had taken the information offline, but not before journalists had grabbed screenshots of the registry data and published the information.
It turns out that the jet’s owner, at least on paper, is Shakruddi Edilgiriev, a cousin of Kadyrov’s who has kept a fairly low profile.
It is unclear how Edilgiriev could afford an Airbus A319, which was reported in 2013 to be one of the world’s most expensive corporate jets, selling for around $89 million.
Edilgiriev previously served as general director of the central market of Grozny, Chechnya’s capital, and also received a government salary in 2020, OCCRP’s Russian member center IStories reported.
The Airbus A319 is not the only luxury asset in Edilgiriev’s name. In December 2022, he acquired a villa for $14.4 million on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah, an artificial array of islands shaped like a palm tree, according to leaked property data from the United Arab Emirates.
Reporters were unable to contact Edilgiriev for comment.
Both the jet and the Dubai villa were linked to Kadyrov before they appeared in Edilgiriev’s name, Ukrainska Pravda reported in 2022.
Flight data over the past couple years shows the jet making trips that appear to correspond to official Chechen visits.
In November 2024, the executive jet flew from Grozny to the Azerbaijani capital of Baku. Kadyrov’s daughter, who is first deputy head of the Chechen presidential administration, made a visit to Azerbaijan in the same time period.
In October 2024, Kadyrov posted footage of his alighting from the plane for an official reception in Bahrain. In September 2024, the jet flew to Turkey at the same time that local media reported a visit by Kadyrov.
Kadyrov has ruled Chechnya since 2007, taking power a couple years after his father was assassinated while serving as president. The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, has accused authorities under Kadyrov's rule of carrying out “unlawful arrests, sexual violence, torture, enforced disappearances and killings.”
