Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia’s Chechen Republic, has responded to rumors that he is gravely ill with severe kidney problems.
Kadyrov, a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, shut down the rumors in a statement on his Telegram channel on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, Kazakh journalist Azamat Maytanov, citing his own sources, said that Kadyrov might be terminally ill and that Dr. Yassin Ibrahim El-Shahat, the head of the department of Nephrology at Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi, had arrived in Grozny, the capital city of Chechnya, to treat him.
“His area of expertise lies in nephrology, dialysis, transplantation, glomerulonephritis, and acute renal failure. Kadyrov is allegedly very bad and has serious kidney problems,” Maytanov wrote on his Telegram channel.
“For those who console themselves with the hope that I am terminally ill, I am sorry to upset you,” Kadyrov responded.
Kadyrov, who has been leader of the Chechen Republic since 2007, said he is “healthy” and “full of energy.”
“As before, I go in for sports, go to the mountains, where I go hiking, and solve important issues of the development of the republic,” he wrote.
Kadyrov added: “It seems to me that the authors of these fantasy versions need a doctor. Something with your psyche, guys, contact the specialists. Well, we will continue to crush all evil spirits and develop our republic.”
Maytanov, citing Akhmed Zakayev, the now-exiled former prime minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, reported that Kadyrov was “ill” and had become a “drug addict.” “[Zakayev] claims that some kind of energy pills previously supported the overactivity of the head of Chechnya.”
Kadyrov has vocally supported Russia’s war in Ukraine. On March 2, he issued an ominous warning after Russia accused Ukrainian “saboteurs” of crossing into Russia’s southern region of Bryansk and taking hostages.
“It is necessary to deal with all participants in the sortie to the Bryansk region in the most severe way, as harshly and even cruelly as possible,” Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel.
“Shoot to kill,” wrote Kadyrov. “To deal not only with them, but also to bring to justice their families, who may live in Russia.”
“No flirting with terrorists. Do not let them leave, punish them on the spot and neutralize them forever, and then take retaliatory measures against Kyiv. Just bomb all the points that are directly or indirectly related to this attack,” he said. “And you don’t need to look that there may be civilian objects nearby.”
Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covered? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via worldnews@newsweek.com.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia’s Chechen Republic, has responded to rumors that he is gravely ill with severe kidney problems.
