Whose cat is beautiful: Chechen leader vs TV celebrity

Moscow, May 25 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov entered into a bizarre public row with a Russian socialite over whose cat was the "most beautiful".

"Dear friends! Me and Tina Kandelaki are having an argument over whose cat is more beautiful. I think it's mine. What do you think?" Kadyrov tweeted.

Kadyrov also posted a photo of his white cat, Zazulya, on Instagram.

"Tina Kandelaki is a friend, but the truth is more important. My cat is 100 times more beautiful," he said.

Kandelaki, a TV celebrity, responded by asking her followers to vote on Instagram for her cat - Brazil.

Kadyrov, 36, has led the Chechen republic since the death of his father Akhmad, the previous ruler, in a bomb attack in the capital Grozny in 2004.

He has often received high-profile celebrities on visits to Chechnya, including boxer Mike Tyson, actress Hillary Swank and martial arts actors Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal.

The Chechen leader once publicly denied allegations he was behind the murder in Austria of a former bodyguard with the words: "If I'd wanted him dead, I could have killed him in Chechnya."

Kadyrov has posted a series of snaps of himself posing with animals on Instagram in recent months.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

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