Putin Seen With Kadyrov After Death Rumors

The Kremlin released a video showing Russian President Vladimir Putin holding a sit-down meeting with longtime ally Ramzan Kadyrov, amid swirling rumors about the Chechen leader's health.

Speculation about Kadyrov, 46, intensified this month when Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov said the Chechen leader had been unwell for a long time with systemic health problems.

There were rumors on social media that he was dead or in a coma, but Kadyrov sought to dispel that speculation last week, publishing a post on Telegram saying that he was alive and well, and that he had been going to the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital to visit his uncle, who was undergoing treatment there.

Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters the meeting with Kadyrov took place on Thursday.

"[Putin] held several working meetings in the Kremlin in the first half of the day. One of them was 'in front of cameras'—this was a meeting with the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov," he said.

Roughly an hour before reports emerged that Putin had met with Kadyrov, state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported that the Russian president would be holding a meeting before the end of the day that would "give answers to many questions."

The publication said the pair discussed the situation in Chechnya and the participation of Chechen fighters in Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Kadyrov's fighters have fought alongside Putin's troops in the war.

"Give your best wishes to the guys. To their families, best wishes. I know that you are personally involved in these issues all the time, including supporting the families of our guys who are fighting on the front line—they are fighting confidently, well, courageously, heroically," Putin said.

The Chechen leader said his fighters were in good spirits, and that they have been capturing Ukrainian soldiers and destroying equipment daily.

Kadyrov, who has served as Chechnya's leader since 2007, has been accused by international groups of overseeing human-rights abuses, including abductions, torture, extrajudicial killings and repression.

His Telegram channel published a video last week of him sitting in a hospital room next to his uncle. In the clip, a person who appears to be a doctor said that the patient had been in hospital for a fortnight and added: "Today is September 20."

On Thursday, a post was published on Kadyrov's Telegram channel saying that more details of the meeting with Putin would be revealed later.

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