Vladimir Putin awarded the rank of major general to Ramzan Kadyrov. Chechen leader published the new honour on his social media pages. He said that the Russian president called him personally to read out the executive order.

“It is a high distinction that I value highly. I’m the president’s loyal solider, and ready to carry out any order on any continent he wishes”, - he wrote.

The move comes less than three days after the US State Department announced the blacklisting the controversial strongman and his family. On Monday, secretary of state Mike Pompeo said the sanctions were the result of “numerous gross violations of human rights dating back more than a decade”.