Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, a faithful ally of Vladimir Putin, published an undated video of himself this Sunday, describing as “lies” the rumors circulating about his state of health which has deteriorated significantly.
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The video posted online by Ramzan Kadyrov is not dated. It shows him walking in a park in light rain, certainly in Chechnya, wearing a jacket, his head in a hood. Smiling, he looks at the camera, his face visibly swollen. In a short text which accompanies these images, the Chechen president says “strongly advise all those who cannot distinguish the truth from lies on the internet to take a walk in the fresh air and put their thoughts in order”.
By publishing this short video, Ramzan Kadyrov therefore seeks to put an end to rumors repeated by numerous media in recent hours. It was notably a question of poisoning or the aggravation of various pathologies from which he suffered. On Friday, information from the Ukrainian press, citing sources within the Chechen diaspora and confirmed to the media Obozrevatel by Ukrainian intelligence, indicated that the Chechen president was in a coma, “seriously” ill. Some rumors even announced his death.
Some also saw the hand of the Kremlin in it. A faithful ally of Vladimir Putin, the Chechen president has nevertheless criticized the Russian general staff on numerous occasions over the progress of military operations in Ukraine. Just like the late head of the Wagner militia, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died on August 23 in a plane crash. No official communication has been made at this stage by the Kremlin on the state of health of the Chechen president.
(And with AFP)