Chechen leader Kadyrov meets Putin after storm over prisoner beating

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in Moscow, Russia, September 28, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS

(Reuters) -Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said he discussed his region's contribution to Russia's war effort in Ukraine at talks with President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that came at a sensitive moment in relations between the two sides.

Kadyrov enjoys wide leeway from Putin to run Chechnya ruthlessly as his personal fiefdom, but he angered even pro-Kremlin hardliners this week by praising his 15-year-old son for beating up an ethnic Russian prisoner in Chechen custody.