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Putin warlord’s son launches power drink – regardless of them being banned

Adam Kadyrov, the son of Vladimir Putin’s Chechen warlord, has launched a range of energy drinks despite a regional ban and his father’s opposition to the stimulants

The teenage son of Vladimir Putin‘s attack dog has raised eyebrows by launching his own brand of energy drinks despite his own father once branding the stimulants “unacceptable.” Adam Kadyrov, the 18-year-old heir to the Chechen leadership, unveiled his fizzy new beverage line under the personal brand K-13 this week.

The launch comes despite a long-standing crusade against such drinks by his father, the feared Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov. In a slick promotional video shared to Instagram, a platform technically labelled “extremist” by the Kremlin, Adam showed off a high-octane lifestyle.

The ad features a BMW performing high-speed donuts, suggesting the drink provides enough kick to handle extreme G-forces.

However, the product has sparked immediate backlash from those who remember the elder Kadyrov’s hardline stance.

Back in 2012, Ramzan moved to outlaw the beverages entirely, saying that “intoxicating drugs are unacceptable in a Muslim society.” By 2013, Chechen lawmakers had officially banned the sale of energy drinks.

As of the K-13 launch, there has been no official announcement that the laws have been scrapped, leaving many wondering if the rules simply don’t apply to the Kadyrov inner circle.

It wasn’t just the legality of the drink that caught the public’s attention. Eagle-eyed social media users pointed out that the K-13 logo looks similar to the iconic triple-claw design used by global giant Monster Energy.

According to reports from exiled Russian news outlet Vyorstka, the businesses behind the K-13 brand are managed by key insiders within the Kadyrov family.

Despite his historical hatred for the drinks, Ramzan was recently seen on Telegram happily sampling it himself. The beverage venture is seen as the latest move to bolster Adam’s public profile.

He has recently been fast-tracked into several high-level positions, including a role overseeing regional safety and another granting him responsibility for the republic’s revenue. He has also been the recipient of a continuous stream of medals and honours.

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Adam previously made international headlines after a video surfaced of him roundhouse-kicking a defenceless prisoner accused of burning the Quran.

With his father’s health frequently the subject of rumours, the launch of K-13 appears to be another step in cementing the teenager’s brand as he is groomed to take over the North Caucasus republic.

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