Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, left, doesn’t bother with a driver. He takes the wheel and drives in a convoy of security officers, trailed by an identical Mercedes with an identical license plate and a look-alike driver. (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)
President Ramzan Kadyrov pets one of the big cats at the private zoo at his presidential residence in Gudermes. (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)
The president’s private zoo includes lions and tigers. When the beasts growl at him, he growls right back, baring his teeth and mirroring their mugs. (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)
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Hospital worker Tamara Mumayeva, 53, lives with her three children in a destroyed house in Grozny, the Chechen capital. She connects all her hopes to President Kadyrov. “If Ramzan only knew about my plight he would help me,” she says. (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)
A monument to the late Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, father of current President Ramzan Kadyrov, stands near a mosque under construction in the center of Grozny. The new mosque will be named for Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated during a military parade in 2004. (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)
A ceremony marking the end of the school season is held at a recently opened learning facility that was repaired and funded by the Kadyrov administration. (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)
A portrait of Ramzan Kadyrov adorns the Grozny airport, which was recently restored and started functioning with three daily flights to Moscow. The slogan reads, “Happiness is to serve the people!” (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)
