Putin’s crony Ramzan Kadyrov has released a series of clips as he seeks to demonstrate his good health amid reports that he is suffering from a terminal illness.
The head of the Chechen Republic posted videos of himself in a gym alongside his acolytes, while another clip showed him presiding over a meeting of his top commanders and officials.
But the scenes only deepened suspicions that the 47-year-old autocrat, a key Putin ally and supporter of his war against Ukraine, is seriously ill, as critics said he looked like a “clown or a weakling.”
The prestigious exiled newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europa reported that Kadyrov suffers from “pancreatic necrosis.”
Putin “must now decide operationally how to maintain stability when the harsh Chechen dictator no longer exists,” the report reads.
The head of the Chechen Republic published videos of himself in a gym with his acolytes
The scenes only deepened suspicions that the 47-year-old autocrat, a key Putin ally and supporter of his war against Ukraine, is seriously ill, as critics said he looked like a “clown or a weakling.”
Another clip showed him presiding over a meeting of his top commanders and officials.
Chechen warlord and key Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov, 47, in a gym with his top acolytes in a bid to prove he is healthy.
Vladimir Putin (left) and Ramzan Kadyrov
This week Kadyrov was seen speaking slowly and in a monotone to his top aides, many of them in uniform, in a video released to show he was in control.
But his incoherent words seemed deeply confused and his subordinates seemed embarrassed when he demanded that all people be armed and ready to defend Russia.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a police officer, emergency worker, justice, judge: every person should own a gun,” he said.
‘You must know that at any moment you must go to combat positions to defend the Homeland.
“When the Homeland calls, everyone must monitor our state.”
His disconcerting gibberish continued: ‘There is the Prosecutor’s Office, there is the Investigation Committee, so that they can train their own, so that they can work together with the headquarters.
‘The Supreme Commander in Chief [dictator Vladimir Putin], commanders and defense ministers know this headquarters. And they thank us for implementing a system like this. [Chechnya].
‘We support our men who fight for the truth, for religion, for the people, for human values.
“I ask you once again to deal not only with internal Chechen issues, but also with new territories [invaded Ukraine]according to the instructions of the President.’
Furthermore, he was shown at the gym with his closest cronies, but the camera angles seemed to hide his swollen abdomen, and it was unclear when the clip was filmed.
A comment on opposition channel Gulagu read: ‘Who did Ramzan decide to film this for and why did he think there were so many idiots out there?
“It only takes a minute for any amateur athlete, let alone a professional, to understand Kadyrov’s fitness level; it’s just not good.”
“Push and puff with 7 and 14kg dumbbells, used by girls and aspiring teenagers to warm up,” Gulagu wrote.
“It is obvious that the idea of filming this video failed and its authors made Ramzan a clown and a weakling.”
Chechen warlord and key Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov, 47, in a gym
He was shown in the gym with his closest cronies, but the camera angles seemed to hide his swollen abdomen.
Kadyrov was seen this week speaking slowly and in a monotone to his top aides, many of them in uniform, in a video released to show that he was in control.
Kadyrov is known for human rights abuses, torture and extrajudicial executions in Russia and abroad.
Novaya Gazette Europe now says that Kadyrov – notorious for human rights abuses, torture and extrajudicial executions in Russia and abroad – was hospitalized at Moscow’s elite Central Clinical Hospital, also known as the Kremlin Clinic, for about a month with life-threatening acute lung disease after overdosing on sleeping pills that supposedly helped relieve pain.
Doctors stabilized his respiratory function, but MRI results indicated that he would not be able to fully recover.
The newspaper, founded by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov, cited sources close to Kadyrov as well as doctors at the Russian presidential administration hospital.
Surprisingly, one of his closest allies, Adam Delimkhanov, was quoted as saying: “The old leader will no longer be there, the illness will seriously affect him.”
“Even if he recovers now, he will be neither alive nor dead.”
The newspaper revealed: “He developed severe difficulty breathing, spoke with difficulty, walked slowly and dressed too warmly for the Chechen climate.”
In September 2023, amid rumors about his health, Kadyrov posted a strange video saying, “I’m alive” from inside the Kremlin’s main hospital.
He pretended he was visiting his sick uncle, but now it seems he was the patient.
Kadyrov, a father of at least 14 children and believed to have three wives in a polygamous environment, has lately been bestowing honors on his children, some of whom hold key government positions.
In a wild move in November, he named his son Adam, then 15, head of his security service, made up of hundreds of armed officers.
But Putin is rumored to have named as his successor a military commander loyal to Kadyrov: Major General Apti Alaudinov, 50.
Kadyrov is one of Vladimir Putin’s closest allies and has provided tens of thousands of troops for his illegal war in Ukraine.