The Chechen warlord, Ramzan Kadyrov, has reportedly been facing a serious health problem for more than five years, as he has reportedly been diagnosed with a disease that can even lead to his death.
The revelations about the Chechen leader’s health were made by the Russian independent investigative newspaper, Novaya Gazeta Europe, citing anonymous sources at Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital, where Kadyrov has reportedly been receiving regular treatment since January 2019.
“The old leader will no longer be the same, the disease will seriously affect him. Even if he recovers now, he will be neither alive nor dead.”
According to the report the Chechen leader was diagnosed with necrotizing pancreatitis, a serious condition that can lead to death. Necrotizing pancreatitis is an extreme complication of acute pancreatitis—an inflammation of the pancreas—that causes part of the organ to die. Complications can include organ failure and even death.
As the hospital’s sources told Novaya Gazeta Europe since 2019, the leader of Chechnya has been undergoing regular operations.
Transfer of Powers Ordinances
In fact, from the first moment of the diagnosis, Kadyrov signed a decree that he had temporarily ceded his powers to the president of the regional parliament “for a period of temporary incapacity”, without disclosing his illness, but stating that he had suffered from a cold. He issued another decree for a similar brief transfer of power in January 2020.
In fact, at that time the treatment of a common cold with intravenous injections caused many people to wonder. Also, in 2019, few paid attention to the weight that Ramzan Kadyrov lost.
As Novaya Gazeta notes, it is unlikely that this was a consequence of a balanced diet, while Kadyrov himself, as an active supporter of sports, had no problems with excess weight. But sudden weight loss is the first symptom of developing necrotizing pancreatitis, this extremely serious, painful and difficult-to-treat disease with a high mortality rate.
Also, in the summer of 2020, the head of Chechnya suffered from Covid and, in addition to the main disease, the development of which the doctors of the hospital tried to stop, he suffered serious problems in the endocrine system.
Deterioration of his health
Novaya Gazeta Europe reported that Kadyrov’s health began to deteriorate rapidly in the spring of 2022, forcing him to miss several television appearances and raising suspicions about his periodic absence from the public eye.
Unconfirmed claims circulating on social media last fall suggested Kadyrov was suffering from kidney problems, prompting him to appear in carefully publicized videos in an attempt to dispel the rumours.
The anonymous Chechen channel “Niiso” was the first to broadcast Kadyrov’s hospitalization in a coma in the intensive care unit of the Central Clinical Presidential Hospital of the Russian Federation.
In fact, according to the newspaper report, the information was leaked by someone from Kadyrov’s environment, who did not understand the medical specifics of the moment.
the “coma”
In September 2023, Novaya Gazeta Europe reported that Kadyrov was hospitalized in Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital for about a month with acute lung failure after overdosing on sleeping pills that were said to help him relieve pain.
Kadyrov was put on a ventilator and temporarily placed in a medically induced coma, prompting anonymous Telegram channels to report that the Chechen warlord was “in a coma”. To explain his absence and deny these reports, he posted a photo in September of himself at the bedside of his uncle Magomed, who was reportedly being treated at the same hospital.
Although doctors were able to stabilize his condition in September, a Novaya Gazeta Europe source at the hospital said the results of Kadyrov’s MRI caused many in his inner circle to “concern” and feel he would not be able to recover. fully.
Ramzan Kadiorf (Source: Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel)
“The old leader will no longer be the same, the disease will seriously affect him. Even if he recovers now, he will be neither alive nor dead,” Novaya Europe reported, citing a source close to Kadyrov’s ally, Russian lawmaker Adam Delimkhanov.
After the health fiasco in September, the Kremlin launched a massive PR campaign to portray Kadyrov as healthy.
Succession scenarios
Kadyrov, who has ruled Chechnya since 2007 and is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but his health is hopeless and Moscow must now quickly decide how to maintain stability after he leaves
So the Kremlin is reportedly starting to work on a succession plan to maintain stability in the North Caucasus republic.
Among the possible successors is the commander of the volunteer union of the Chechen special forces Akhmat, Lt. Gen. Apti Alaudinov, who was recently appointed deputy in the Defense Ministry’s Main Directorate of Military and Civil Affairs.
There is no simple solution to this problem: none of those close to the Chechen warlord and present in the public sphere are able to become his exact copy and rule the region according to Kadyrov’s model. There will be no second Kadyrov, and this is understood by the closest associates of the head of Chechnya and his family members, who are fighting tooth and nail for leadership positions in the republic.
Information about Kadyrov’s health has not been independently confirmed.
Hours after the report was published, Kadyrov’s channel on the Telegram messaging app shared a 4-minute video of the Chechen leader discussing his region’s role in the war against Ukraine. The video cuts in and out of close-ups of Kadyrov, who does not move his body and can be heard speaking with difficulty.
