I'm not dead – Chechen leader
The head of Russia’s Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, published a video of himself walking in the rain on Sunday. Earlier this week, several Ukrainian and Western media outlets reported that he had been hospitalized due to a kidney disease and had “fallen into a coma.”
“I strongly advise anyone incapable of telling the truth from a lie on the internet to take a walk in the open and clear their heads,” the Chechen leader wrote in a Telegram post featuring a video of himself walking in the rain. “The rain is wonderfully invigorating,” he added.
On Friday, Ukrainian news outlet Obozrevatel claimed that Kadyrov “had fallen into a coma,” citing a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence, Andrey Yusov, who claimed that the Chechen leader had seen his “existing illness worsened,” leading to a “serious condition.”
Yusov added that Ukrainian intelligence confirmed this information through “various sources in medical and political circles.”
The rumors were shared by Western media outlets, including the New York Post and the Washington Examiner. The Post went even further and claimed, citing a Kazakh journalist, that the Chechen leader could have been poisoned and had “serious kidney problems.”
Kadyrov has had to repeatedly dismiss rumors about his health. In March, similar rumors were sparked by a small device he was carrying, which turned out to be an electronic Muslim prayer counter, according to the Chechen leader.
“I am alive and kicking,” Kadyrov said at that time. “A doctor is needed for the authors of these fantasy theories,” he added.
