Russian MPs are allegedly plotting Kadyrov’s murder in Chechnya, according to TASS

According to state news agency TASS, Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, has threatened Russian MPs from neighboring areas with a “blood feud” until they can show otherwise. He has accused them of trying to commission his assassination.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s close ally Kadyrov spoke in Chechen during a meeting of Chechen security officers, according to TASS. On Wednesday, Kadyrov’s personal Telegram channel released a video of the encounter.

According to the news agency, Kadyrov stated: “There are witnesses, there are people from whom they tried to commission, and they asked how much they would take for the order.”

According to TASS, Kadyrov identified three lawmakers from Russia’s legislature—two from Dagestan and one from Ingushetia—as the masterminds of the purported scheme.

He was cited as saying, “I will officially declare a blood feud if they do not prove otherwise.” Blood feuds are a traditional Chechen practice in which an enemy or his male relatives are killed in order to exact revenge.

Verification of TASS’s translation of Kadyrov’s comments was not possible for Reuters.

Dagestan and Ingushetia are both adjacent to Chechnya, and Kadyrov has previously claimed a portion of each region’s territory.

Former Chechen independence fighter Kadyrov eventually joined Moscow’s side after opposing Russian forces during the predominantly Muslim region’s 1990s attempt to secede. Three years after his father’s murder, in 2007, he took over as head of state of Chechnya.

Putin has rewarded Kadyrov for preserving calm in the area by granting him broad authority to govern Chechnya as his own fief. He has grown to be a prominent figure in both politics and the armed forces, having contributed soldiers to Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.