Kremlin looking for successor in Chechnya in light of Kadyrov illness

Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov has been diagnosed with pancreatic necrosis, a terminal illness that has prompted the Kremlin to look for his successor, Novaya Gazeta Europe has learned.

Kadyrov was first diagnosed with pancreatic necrosis in January 2019, with noticeable weight fluctuations recorded over the next several years. 

Since 2019, Kadyrov has undergone regular procedures at the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital, whose sources told Novaya Gazeta Europe that Kadyrov had been hospitalised last year with “acute pulmonary insufficiency” after overdosing on a preoperative sedative.

Kadyrov was hooked up to a ventilator and temporarily put into a medically induced coma, which led to anonymous Telegram channels reporting that Kadyrov was “in a coma”. To explain his absence and disprove these reports, Kadyrov published a picture in September of himself at the bedside of his uncle Magomed, allegedly receiving treatment at the same hospital.

While doctors managed to stabilise Kadyrov’s condition in September, Novaya Gazeta Europe’s source at the hospital said that Kadyrov’s MRI results caused “distress” among many in his inner circle. A source close to Adam Delimkhanov, a Russian lawmaker and ally of Kadyrov, said that he “wouldn’t be the same”, and that the new illness would “affect him greatly”. 

Following the September health scare, the Kremlin launched a mass PR campaign to show Kadyrov in good health, but the presidential administration now seems to be on the lookout for a successor. Among the potential candidates is the commander of the Chechen special forces volunteer association Akhmat, Major General Apti Alaudinov, who has recently been appointed deputy at the Main Directorate for Military and Political Work at the Defence Ministry.