Index – Abroad – The dreaded Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, is said to be terminally ill

The Moscow Times reports that Ramzan Kadyrov’s deteriorating health has prompted the Kremlin to begin developing a succession plan to maintain stability in the North Caucasus republic.

Last fall, unconfirmed claims circulated on social media that Kadyrov was suffering from kidney problems, which prompted him to appear in carefully staged videos to try to dispel the rumours.

According to Novaja Gazeta Europe, doctors first diagnosed Ramzan Kadirov with acute pancreatic necrosis – a serious disease that can lead to death – in January 2019.

The following month, Kadyrov announced in a decree that he had briefly ceded power to the speaker of the regional parliament “during my temporary incapacity,” without disclosing his illness. He also issued another decree for a similarly brief transfer of power in January 2020.

Novaya Gazeta Europe reported that Kadyrov’s health began to deteriorate rapidly in the spring of 2022, forcing him to miss a number of television appearances and his periodic absence from the public again raising suspicions.

In September 2023, according to Novaya Europe, Kadyrov was hospitalized for about a month at Moscow’s elite Central Clinical Hospital with acute lung failure after overdosing on sleeping pills that were said to help ease his pain.

Although doctors were able to stabilize his respiratory functions at the time, based on the MRI results, Kadyrov’s family reportedly concluded that the Chechen leader would not be able to make a full recovery.

According to Novaja Europe, it was around this time that the Kremlin began working on a succession plan in case Kadyrov died.

Hours after the report was published, Kadyrov’s Telegram channel shared a four-minute video in which the Chechen leader talks about his region’s role in the war against Ukraine. The video alternates between close-ups of Kadyrov, who does not move his body and can be heard struggling to speak.

RamzaN Kadyrov later repeatedly denied the news about his illness in a video. Officials did not comment on Novaja Gazeta Europe’s report, and its details could not be independently verified.

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