Russian MMA fighter apologises to Chechen President Kadyrov

Russian MMA fighter Artur Kulitsky apologised to President of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, for calling his supporters 'hot heads ready to do anything for money.' The athlete posted the video of his address to the Chechen President on his Instagram page.

“I was drunk, I had listened to all those YouTube bloggers of unclear slant, my mind was clouded and stupefied,” the athlete said.

According to Kulitsky, he did not control his behaviour. Everything that he said was nonsense, the athlete added. Kulitsky clarified that he was absolutely safe, and no one was threatening him. 

“I will never let this stupidity come from me ever again,” the fighter said, adding that he also wanted to remove his tattoos, but did not specify the reason for it. 

In his original video, which has now been removed, Kulitsky spoke about "Kadyrov's hot heads who are ready for anything for the sake of money." The athlete suggested that he would be forced to apologise for those words.

Chechnya actively uses the practice of public apologies, and it has spread beyond the borders of the republic.

Since the beginning of the year, at least three Russian nationals have apologised to Kadyrov.

• In May, a 17-year-old TikTok user from the city of Perm called the head of Chechnya a shaitan. Kadyrov pledged to find and eliminate the commentator, and the teenager publicly apologised some time later. 
• The same month, Kadyrov was insulted by another TikTok user from the Tula region of Russia. He also called Kadyrov a shaitan, but then apologised as well and deleted the account.
• In June, a blogger from Kabardino-Balkaria, a 14-year-old TikTok user, also called Kadyrov a shaitan, but a few days later he apologised for his "unacceptable words."