How did Ramzan Cadyrov's grandson become Serbia's citizen for four days?

Serbia's government did not answer Radio Free Europe's questions about why it was granted citizenship and then removed from Russian republic leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin's close associate.

Zakriyev is on the list of US and United Kingdom sanctions because of involvement in Russian institutions.

Under sanctions from the US and the European Union is also the leader of Chechenia, Ramzan Cadyrov, who for years faces charges of serious human rights violations, including kidnappings, torture, murder and persecution of the LGBT community, writes REL, broadcasts Periscope.

Serbia's prime minister, Djuro Macut, signed the decision to grant citizenship to his nephew on 24 April.

This cannot be explained by rational policy”, says former Serbian diplomat Sreqko Djukkiq.

“It is personal interest, write-off to Russia and Cadirov”, he adds to Radio Free Europe.

Macut, four days after the citizenship decision, also signed the decision to abolish it.

For the latest action, the Serbian government referred to the Law for General Administrative Procedure.

This law says the decision could be abolished “to eliminate a serious and immediate risk to people's lives and health, public security, order and public calm, or to avoid economic disorders”.

Djukkic estimates Serbia withdrew the citizenship decision due to warnings from the European Union.

It is clear that Serbia is required to discontinue the practice of granting citizenship, so that the European Union does not impose specific measures”, he says.

The EU did not respond to Radio Free Europe's request to comment on the decision on granting and later on the removal of Chechen leader's citizenship.

Serbia, even in past years, has granted citizenship through a separate procedure, under which citizens of other countries can gain it if such a thing represents “interest for Serbia”.

More than 150 Russians, following the invasion of Ukraine, have obtained Serbian citizenship.

The European Union, in its report for 2025, has warned Belgrade that this poses potential security risk for the EU, as Russian citizens thereby gain the right to visa-free travel to the EU.

Although a candidate for EU membership, Serbia maintains close relations with Russia and has not joined sanctions against this country because of the invasion of Ukraine.

Who is Jacob Zakriyev?

Ibrahim Zakriyev, also known as Jacob, became one of the youngest mayors in Russia at the age of 27.

In 2018 he was appointed mayor of Grozni é capital of Chechnya.

In February 2020, he took over the post of chief of the president's administration and the Czech government and later became deputy prime minister and minister of agriculture.

Zakriyev was also appointed director of the Russian branch of the French Danone company after Russia confiscated it.

Immediately after the transfer of property, Danone was renamed to the H&N department society.

In March 2024, Putin cancelled Danone's nationalism, while Russian media reported that agreement had been reached on selling it to private persons.

According to reports, ownership had to be divided by 50:50 between Cadyrov's nephew and the Vamin company from Tatarstan.

In May 2024, the sale of the Russian branch of Danone was completed and passed on to the Vamin company.

According to a 2023 statement by the U.S. State Department, Zakriyev is on a list of sanctions because of ties with Ramzan Cadyrov's family, as well as the fact that he was the “director of the Russian branch of a European company, after the Russian Federation confiscated its assets<1>.

Citizen gives, <x0 nontransparent”

For the former Djukiq diplomat, granting citizenship in Serbia is nontransparent and raises “many questions and doubts”.

Djukkiq stresses that in most cases, it is unclear what interest Serbia has in granting citizenship to Russian citizens, as authorities do not publicly explain such decisions.

In this specific case, he believes Serbia, “in principle”, had no interest in granting Zakriyevi citizenship.

But, he adds, this is not the first time Serbia gives citizenship to “a Russian citizen under sanctions, or someone from his narrow circle under sanctions”.

Who received Serbian citizenship?

At least four Russian citizens received Serbian citizenship even though they were under sanctions from Great Britain and Canada at the time, the research network B reported. IRN, 2025.

That year, Radio Free Europe reported that Serbian citizenship was granted to Iman Sumajdovna Khalidova, who, according to all data, is Sumajdov Khalidov's daughter, entrepreneur and athlete from Chechnya.

In May 2023, Khalidov himself obtained Serbian citizenship through a special procedure.

In early August 2022, Russian businessman Oleg Cherepanov received the Serbian passport, and in late July, Arkdy Mutavchi, former executive director of a supplier for the Kremlin Property Management Department, also received the Serbian passport.

The number of citizenships granted by the Government of Serbia increased significantly since the beginning of Ukraine's Russian occupation in 2022, and after imposing sanctions on Russia and people close to the Kremlin.

From 2010 to 2015, between five and 13 persons were granted Serbian citizenship within a year, while the first year of war in Ukraine brought a record number of citizenship decisions: 64.

Since then, more than 150 Serbian citizenship has been granted only to Russian citizens.

Warnings From Brussels

The European Union warned several times against the practice of providing Serbian passports to Russian citizens.

The latest 2025 enlargement report estimated that Serbia's visa policy is not fully in line with that of the European Union and that the granting of passports to Russian citizens is “due to concern”.

Voracious security checks should be implemented when Serbian citizenship is granted to Russian citizens, as Serbian passport holders benefit from visa-free travel to the EU”, the report said.

In this context, the EU made several recommendations to Serbia to further approach EU visa policy.

Chechnya-Serbia Relations

Chechen officials have visited Serbia several times in recent years.

Dzamambulat Umarov, former deputy prime minister of the Russian Republic of Chechenia and minister of information, introduced his book in 1923 at the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Belgrade, known as the Russian House.

UMarov is a close associate of Chechen leader Ramzan Cadyrov.

In November 2022, the representative of Chechnya's head in Arab and Muslim countries, Turko Daudov, visited Serbia, where he also met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq.

Daudov wrote at the time on his website at the Instagram that he conveyed the greetings of Cadyrov Vuciqi and all the Serbian people.

He said that the <x0) century-old brotherly relations between Russia and Serbia have once again demonstrated their strength”.

In response, Vuciq declared that the Russian people are brotherly towards the Serbs and that these relations “cannot be destroyed under any pressure”.

At the time, it was not known what the main purpose of the meeting was and the topic of the two politicians' conversation.

In January of that year, a delegation from Serbia visited Chechnya and the countries decided to co-operate in boxing.

According to a statement from the Serbian Box Federation, Cadyrov intended to organise exercises for Serbian and Russian national teams in Grozni and further develop relations with Belgrade “for the benefit of both countries”.

An initiative to establish a religious school in Novi Pazar in southwestern Serbia was also mentioned publicly in 2021, which would be named after Ahmad Cadyrov, the late father of Chechen leader.

But, for now, there is no official information about the implementation of this initiative. /Periscope/