 Observers have considered the open existence of the Kadyrovtsy, and the reason for its legalization by the Russian government as a law enforcement unit, to be so that the presence of federal troops in Chechnya can be decreased and redeployed to the neighboring state of Dagestan where the majority of Islamist insurgency continued.In 2007, Ramzan Kadyrov became the new President of the Chechen Republic and is now controlling all of the Chechen Interior Ministry forces, with the top seats of his government occupied by the former commanders of the Kadyrovtsy.A significant number of members of these groups are people with a criminal past, including people who had committed criminal offences in the period between wars.