MOSCOW — Ramzan A. Kadyrov, leader of the troubled southern Russian republic of Chechnya, linked the shooting death of a Kremlin critic to French cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad, comments that the victim’s associates dismissed on Monday as “nonsense.”

Mr. Kadyrov, writing on his Instagram account, praised Zaur Dadayev, a former police officer charged in a Moscow court on Sunday in the killing. He wrote that he knew Mr. Dadayev personally as a devout Muslim infuriated by the anti-Muslim cartoons of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and by those who supported their publication.

“Anyone who knows Zaur confirms that he is a dedicated, deeply religious man, and that he, like all Muslims, was shocked by the actions of Charlie and comments in support of printing the cartoons,” wrote Mr. Kadyrov, who often uses Instagram to make public statements.

The Chechen leader also described Mr. Dadayev as a “true patriot of Russia” who had been awarded medals for bravery in fighting Islamic insurgents. Mr. Dadayev left his position in an Interior Ministry battalion for reasons that Mr. Kadyrov said were unclear but would be investigated.