Chechen Leader's Telegram Channel Assures: Alive and Well

The official social media channel of Chechen Republic President Ramzan Kadyrov released a video today, Wednesday, showing him in good health. This comes in response to reports on social media claiming his health had deteriorated. Kadyrov is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. When the Kremlin was asked this week about reports suggesting Kadyrov (46) had been treated in a Moscow hospital, they stated they had no information regarding the matter. However, a video posted on Kadyrov's Telegram channel showed him sitting at the bedside of a man said to be "dear uncle Magomed Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov," kissing the man's hand and forehead. The timing of the video’s recording remains unclear. In a post alleged to have been written by Kadyrov himself, he stated, "Thank God, I am alive and well, and I do not understand at all why there is noise even in the case of my illness.” Representatives for the Chechen leader did not respond to repeated requests for comment earlier this week regarding reports of his illness.