The Kremlin-backed leader of Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has published a new video on social media amid speculation his health is failing and he had been hospitalized in a coma.
The video, published on Telegram late on September 20, shows Kadyrov, Russian lawmaker from Chechnya Adam Delimkhanov, and Kadyrov's envoy to the Kremlin, Bekkhan Taimaskhanov, in a hospital room visiting Kadyrov's uncle, Magomed Kadyrov.
An unidentified doctor in the room says Magomed Kadyrov has been in the clinic for two weeks and will stay in the medical institution for another two weeks, adding that "today is September 20."
No details were given about the hospital or the doctor who appears in the video. It was not possible to immediately verify the date of the video.
The Agentsvo.Novosti Telegram channel, however, identified the doctor as Kirill Kuchkin, a physician at the Central clinical hospital of the presidential directorate of Russia (TsKB) in Moscow, adding that Kuchkin declined to answer a question about the exact date of the footage.
The text under the footage says the video was taken at the TsKB, adding that Kadyrov visited his uncle in the hospital during his unannounced business trip to Moscow.
"I am alive and well and absolutely do not understand why, even in the case of when I am ill, such a fuss must be raised," the text says.
Reports about Kadyrov's worsening health and that he was being treated at the TsKB started circulating in Russia and Ukraine last week. Several opposition Chechen Telegram channels said later that Kadyrov was in a coma and suffering from kidney failure.
Last weekend, Kadyrov’s Telegram channel released a video showing him smiling and talking to the camera in an apparent attempt to counter speculation about his health.
The location and date of when that video, in which the 46-year-old autocrat speaks in a halting manner, was filmed also has not been verified.
Kadyrov, who has ruled Chechnya since 2007 with a cult of personality around him, is frequently accused by Russian and international human rights groups of overseeing grave human rights abuses including abductions, torture, extrajudicial killings, and targeting the LGBT community.
He has been one of the strongest allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin and brought many of his Chechen fighters to battle alongside Kremlin forces in the invasion of Ukraine. Some Chechen rebels are also fighting against Russian troops alongside Ukrainian forces.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on September 18 that he had no information on Kadyrov's state of health.