Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov waits for Vladimir Putin to attend a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on 7 May 2025. EPA-EFE/ALEXANDER KAZAKOV/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL / POOL MANDATORY CREDIT

Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the republic of Chechnya in the Russian North Caucasus, has slammed those who spread “gossip” about his health, but did not directly deny the reports of his illness in a 45-second video published on Telegram on Monday.

Set against footage of Kadyrov walking past a medieval tower, a voiceover seemingly from his perspective says: “I keep hearing rumours about my illness, saying I’m dying, that I don’t have much time left. First, sickness and death are the fate of every person.”

“A life’s length is determined solely by the one who gave us breath,” Kadyrov continued. “If it is my destiny to live 50, 60 or 70 years, so will I live, and no one will take away a single day.”

Kadyrov, 48, did not comment on the current state of his health, only saying: “You who gossip without courage hide like mice abroad.”

The caption to the video says that every day is “a priceless gift … from the Almighty”, while Kadyrov advises that life is to be lived consciously, and to be filled with “kindness, sincerity and gratitude”.

In April and May 2024, Novaya Europe published a five-part investigation into Kadyrov, which revealed that he had been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic necrosis back in 2019. Kadyrov had regularly begun to disappear from the public eye as he received treatment, while at the federal level, a PR campaign involving Vladimir Putin himself was launched to divert attention from the seriousness of his condition.

Following a meeting with Putin in early May held amid growing speculation about the state of the Chechen leadership, Kadyrov said he and Putin had “discussed a number of important topics off the record”, and that he had “received full understanding and support on each one”.