Smiling, under a light rain in a park, Ramzan Kadyrov, president of the Russian republic of Chechnya and one of Putin’s most loyal vassals, appears alive and well on a video posted this September 17. In it, he advises “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.” Because since this weekend, rumors have been flowing freely about his supposedly critical state of health, and even about his death.
It was three round trips of his private jet, in September, between Moscow and Grozny, capital of the Chechen republic, which fueled rumors about the imminent death of the Chechen president. Ramzan Kadyrov was reportedly transferred to a Moscow clinic after “burying alive” his doctor and Chechen health minister a few weeks earlier. The turbulent Chechen president is indeed known to have kidney problems and is suspected of drug abuse.
On September 15, information from the Ukrainian press, citing sources within the Chechen diaspora and confirmed to the Obozrevatel media by Ukrainian intelligence, indicated that the Chechen president was in a coma, “seriously” ill. Two days later, the leader of the Chechen opposition in exile, Aboubakar Yangoulbayev, announced his death. An anonymous Telegram channel, identified as close to Wagner and known to have good sources in Russian power circles, is spreading images of cars registered in Chechnya in front of a clinic in Moscow.
The Kadyrov clan hates each other
Yet these claims lacked supporting evidence, according to Harold Chambers, a specialist in Chechen politics. If Kadyrov’s end was truly near, there would have been “other signals, like his children coming to his bedside in the hospital. But that didn’t happen.” Ramzan Kadyrov is said to be the father of 14 children: his eldest daughter is known for having been appointed Minister of Culture of Chechnya, and three of his sons were sent to fight in Ukraine in a highly publicized manner to silence protests by the Chechen population against mobilization in Donbass.
“If Ramzan Kadyrov was really in a critical condition, there would also have been unusual signs among the Chechen elite regarding his succession, but so far the situation remains terribly ordinary,” adds Harold Chambers. In Chechnya, two thirds of the institutions are in the hands of the Kadyrov family. His eldest son, Akhmat, is only 17 and cannot claim power until he is 21. “In the Kadyrov clan, they all hate each other,” slips Vadim Dubnov, columnist specializing in the Caucasus for Radio Liberty, who foresees a turbulent succession for the Chechen leader when the time comes, “before Moscow intervenes to restore order.”
Build your own myth
Rumors about Kadyrov’s health have almost become a chestnut in Russia. Already, when the Covid-19 pandemic worsened in 2020, comments abounded on his state of health. Since 2007 and his arrival in power, he has regularly announced that he is “taking vacation”, which each time spreads doubt about his departure from political life.
To the point that Kadyrov decided to play it to his advantage. His recent video, intended to silence the rumors, is not dated, and the Chechen leader remains evasive in his statements, as if to maintain vagueness. “It gets him more attention and allows him to build his own myth,” recalls Harold Chambers. “Perhaps after the mutiny and then the death of Yevgeny Prigojine, he feels he has fallen into oblivion,” says Vadim Dubnov.
“It is very likely that some of this information was transmitted by Chechen officials,” he continues. “We know that those close to him have already created narratives about him, and paid people to disseminate them.” One of Kadyrov’s most outlandish maneuvers was to send money to two opponents in exile… so that they could fake their own deaths, journalists from Novaya Gazeta. A method which then allowed the Chechen power to divide the opposition in exile. And to make people talk about Kadyrov.