Serbia revokes citizenship granted to Kadyrov’s nephew after media scrutiny

Serbia has officially revoked the citizenship granted to Jakub Zakriev, the nephew of Ramzan Kadyrov, only days after quietly approving his naturalisation under a special national interest provision.

The decision comes three days after the first media reports emerged that the Serbian government had awarded citizenship to Zakriev and members of Kadyrov’s family. The decree had been signed by Prime Minister Đuro Macut several days earlier.

Serbian authorities reversed course by arguing that Zakriev’s citizenship represented a “threat to public security”, despite initially approving it under Article 19, Paragraph 1 of Serbia’s citizenship law. The provision allows foreigners to obtain citizenship when their admission is deemed to be “in the interest of the Republic of Serbia”.

For five days, the 35-year-old Zakriev officially held a Serbian passport before authorities abruptly reclassified him as a security concern.

According to reports by the Russian-language outlet of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Zakriev has previously appeared on sanctions lists imposed by the United States and the United Kingdom.

This brief naturalisation has raised questions about how Serbian authorities define “national interest” and why a decision justified on strategic grounds could be reversed within days on security grounds.

Zakriev, the son of Kadyrov’s sister, has held several senior positions within the Chechen administration, including mayor of Grozny and chief of staff to the regional government leader. He later emerged as an unexpected beneficiary of Russia’s seizure of Western corporate assets.

In 2023, Zakriev was appointed to oversee the nationalised Russian operations of the French company Danone after a decree signed by Vladimir Putin transferred control of the company’s Russian business to state-backed management. The operation was subsequently rebranded as H&N, before the nationalisation was reversed a year later as negotiations over a sale progressed.

There is little evidence of direct economic ties between Serbian and Chechen authorities. However, Kadyrov remains one of the Kremlin’s most loyal regional allies and enjoys strong backing from Moscow.

The case has renewed scrutiny over Serbia’s increasingly frequent use of expedited citizenship procedures since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to reporting by the Balkan service of Radio Free Europe, the number of citizenships granted under special government decrees has risen sharply since sanctions targeted Russian elites and Kremlin-linked figures.

Little Russia

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Serbia has emerged as one of the principal destinations for Russian nationals, driven by a visa-free regime, cultural proximity and Belgrade’s refusal to align with Western sanctions against Russia.

According to official figures cited in a parliamentary question submitted to the European Parliament, more than 219,000 Russian citizens entered Serbia between February 2022 and mid-2023. Of those, roughly 30,000 obtained temporary residence permits.

Data from Serbia’s Interior Ministry indicate a sharp increase in temporary residency approvals for foreign nationals after 2022, with Russians becoming the largest newly arrived migrant group. Statistics compiled by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia measure international migration through residence permits issued for stays longer than one year, based on records collected by the Interior Ministry.

Serbia, an EU candidate country, continues to maintain direct airline connections with several Russian cities despite the European Union’s policy of suspending such flights.

Alongside migration, Russian business activity in Serbia has expanded significantly. By 2024, more than 11,000 Russian-owned companies were operating in Serbia, concentrated primarily in the IT sector, consultancy services, hospitality and small business ventures.

Belgrade has become the main hub for the new Russian diaspora in the Balkans. Russian-language schools, nurseries, medical practices, cultural associations and retail outlets catering primarily to Russian nationals have proliferated across the Serbian capital, contributing to what some observers describe as a “mini Russia” emerging in parts of the city.

Sources: Dnevnik.bg, United 24, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Caption: Jakub Zakriev, current director of the confiscated Danone subsidiary in Russia [L] with his uncle, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov [@xabaruzofficial on X]