It was fear of extremism, as well as a more general increase violence, that led to the rise of the Kadyrov clan in 2004, when the Kremlin decided to engage in a “Chechenization” of the conflict. The plan implied that the Kremlin would provide the Kadyrovs – first Akhmad Kadyrov, and then, after his death, his son, Ramzan – broad autonomy (independence in all but name) and huge sums of money.