Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Russian Senator Suleiman Kerimov have made amends more than a year after a public rupture linked to the controversial merger of the country’s largest online retailer, Russia’s grand mufti said Monday.
The rift between the two men emerged in October 2024, when Kadyrov declared a “blood feud” against Kerimov and two other lawmakers, accusing them of orchestrating the seizure of Wildberries from its founder, Tatyana Kim, and of ordering his assassination.
Media reports at the time claimed Kerimov stood to benefit from the merger of Wildberries with the smaller outdoor advertising company Russ, creating the Wildberries & Russ (RWB).
Kadyrov had pledged to support Kim’s ex-husband, Vladislav Bakalchuk, in blocking the deal. That effort ultimately failed, as the merged company continued to expand and Kim and Bakalchuk later reached a settlement in their divorce proceedings.
Last month, Kadyrov posted a photograph of himself shaking hands with Kerimov, saying they had held a “fruitful meeting” in Moscow. On Monday, Ravil Gainutdin, chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, said that the meeting took place on Jan. 30 at the Kremlin with the involvement of President Vladimir Putin.
“Within the walls of the Moscow Kremlin, at the invitation of our president, they reached full agreement and mutual understanding,” Gainutdin said in a video address ahead of Ramadan, Islam’s holy month of fasting.
Gainutdin described the reconciliation as a gesture of unity following Putin’s declaration of 2026 as the “Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia.”
The Council of Muftis represents Russia’s Muslim community.
