Chechen leader Kadyrov accuses Russian MPs of plotting his murder, TASS says

Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of Russia's Chechnya region, has accused Russian lawmakers from neighbouring regions of attempting to commission his assassination, and threatened them with a "blood feud", the state news agency TASS reported on Thursday.

The dispute has its origins in a corporate merger involving Russia's largest online retailer, Wildberries, outside whose Moscow office two people were killed in a shootout last month.

Kadyrov has described Wildberries' merger with outdoor advertising firm Russ Group as an "asset grab".

TASS cited Kadyrov, in comments made on Wednesday, as naming three lawmakers behind the alleged plot to kill him. "If they do not prove otherwise, I will officially declare a blood feud," he was quoted as saying at a meeting with security officials.

In Chechnya, blood feuds are pursued by killing an enemy or his male relatives in response to a perceived offence.

Tatiana Kim, Russia's richest woman, held 99% of Wildberries and now has around 65% of the merged company, RVB. She has filed for divorce from Vladislav Bakalchuk, a minority stakeholder in Wildberries who opposed the merger, whom Kadyrov is backing in the dispute.

One of those named by Kadyrov in connection with the alleged assassination plot is Suleiman Kerimov, a wealthy businessman and Russian senator from Dagestan, whom Bakalchuk has accused of "seizing" Wildberries.

Reuters was unable to reach Kerimov by phone and received no immediate reply to emailed questions.

Kadyrov was handpicked by Russian President Vladimir Putin to run Chechnya, and has become a significant player in Russian politics and the military, including by providing soldiers for Russia's war effort in Ukraine.