I am not dying, says Chechen field commander Ramzan Kadyrov

Ramzan Kadyrov appeared on video while walking in the rain

His weight has increased, his speech is often slurred, his eyes look gloomy, but the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov says he feels fine.

In a series of videos published this week aimed at dispelling persistent rumors that he is seriously ill, Kadyrov walked through a park, visiting an ill relative and meeting with an official.

“I strongly advise anyone who cannot distinguish truth from lies on the Internet to take a walk in the fresh air and put their thoughts in order. The rain is wonderfully invigorating,” he said in one of the videos published on his Telegram channel.

Despite his cheerful demeanor, Kadyrov’s rapid advertising campaign seems to have only provoked new speculation about his health.

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In the video, he visited an ailing relative in Moscow to explain reports that he had been flown to the Russian capital for treatment — with eagle-eyed commentators noticing a plastic device on his finger that they believed was intended to measure blood oxygen levels.< /p>

Observers also found it strange that Kadyrov appeared in the video only briefly, and the doctor in the office decided to awkwardly announce the date.

Then there was a video of a meeting with a government official. , which was re-recorded with awkward sound, raising suspicions that it was fake.

💥🇷🇺 — Alive and well: Ramzan #Kadyrov assured that he went to the Moscow Central Hospital to visit his uncle, and not for treatment.

The recording was allegedly made today — September 20th. pic.twitter.com/co4Dg2YVkm

— 🔥🗞The Informant (@theinformantofc) September 20, 2023

Alexey Venediktov, the well-connected former editor of Russian radio station Ekho Moskvy, is one observer who remains unconvinced by Kadyrov's claims that he is in good health.

He told his 225,000 subscribers on Telegram that the Chechen authoritarian leader was flying to Moscow for hospital treatment.

“Kadyrov has severe kidney failure and therefore needs frequent hemodialysis,” he said.

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Ukraine's military intelligence service agreed, and other commentators suggested the 46-year-old may have been addicted to opiates.

Nikolaus von Twickel of the Berlin think tank Liberal Modernity said he believed concerns about Kadyrov's health were real.

“In videos published over the past 24 months, he often appears simply lying on a sofa . He talks like a drug addict and has a monotone voice. This is very strange,” he said.

Headache for Putin

Kadyrov's apparent malaise is a major headache for Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who has built a strong image for himself by suppressing the uprising in Chechnya.

As Boris Yeltsin's hard-line prime minister in 1999, Putin started the second Chechen War , three years after the Kremlin was forced to sign a humiliating peace agreement that effectively ceded the southern region to the rebels.

To win this second war, Putin bombed Grozny, ordered his troops to kidnap and kill, and bribed his enemies and made alliances. Among them was Akhmat Kadyrov, the father of Ramzan Kadyrov.

Putin made Akhmat Kadyrov president of Chechnya and relied on him to crush the rebels and establish a fragile peace.

When Akhmat Kadyrov was killed in a bomb explosion at a football stadium in Grozny during a military parade in 2004, it was quite natural for Putin to prepare the escaped son of the Chechen president as a replacement.

So and it was. a real project — Ramzan Kadyrov showed up to his first meeting in the Kremlin in a blue tracksuit.

But Mark Galeotti, a Russia analyst, said Putin had now come to rely on the stocky former boxer to control Chechnya.

“With 97 percent of the Russian army committed to Ukraine, if it [Chechnya] started again, who will deal with this? Now is the worst time for questions to arise about his health,” he said.

The problem for Putin is who or what will come after Kadyrov, who has effectively suppressed dissent. Human rights activists have accused him of murder and torture.

It is unclear how many children Kadyrov has, but analysts believe he may already be planning his own dynasty.

He has promoted his three eldest sons to last year, sending them to Ukraine to pose for photographs while brandishing rifles.

17-year-old Akhmat Kadyrov, named after his murdered grandfather, was even sent to the Kremlin in March to meet with Putin.

“Chechnya is a society built on blood relations and kinship.” , said Mr. von Twickel. “This is a very strong signal that something is wrong.”