Putin warlord Ramzan Kadyrov goes to gym and addresses commanders 'to prove​ he is not terminally ill' amid health rumours​

Putin crony Ramzan Kadyrov has released a series of clips as he seeks to prove his clean bill of health amid reports he is suffering from a terminal illness.

The Head of the Chechen Republic posted videos of himself at a gym along with his acolytes, while another clip showed him chairing a meeting of his top commanders and officials.

But the scenes only deepened suspicions that the 47-year-old autocrat - key Putin ally and backer of his war against Ukraine - is seriously ill as critics said he looked like a 'clown or a weakling'.

Authoritative exiled newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europe had reported Kadyrov is suffering from 'pancreatic necrosis'.

Putin 'must now decide operationally how to maintain stability when the tough Chechen dictator is no more,' the report read. 

The Head of the Chechen Republic posted videos of himself at a gym along with his acolytes

The scenes only deepened suspicions that the 47-year-old autocrat - key Putin ally and backer of his war against Ukraine - is seriously ill as critics said he looked like a 'clown or a weakling'

Another clip showed him chairing a meeting of his top commanders and officials

Chechen warlord and key Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov, 47, shown in a gym with his leading acolytes in a bid to prove he is healthy

Vladimir Putin (left) and Ramzan Kadyrov

Kadyrov was this week seen speaking slowly in a monotone to his top aides - many of them uniformed - in a video released to show he was in control.

But his rambling words seemed deeply confused and his underlings appeared embarrassed as he demanded every person should be armed and ready to defend Russia.

'It doesn't matter whether you are a policeman, emergency worker, justice, judge - every person must own a weapon,' he said.

'He must know that at any time he must go to combat positions, to defend the Motherland.

'When the Motherland calls, everyone must stand guard over our state.'

His puzzling gibberish went on: 'There is the Prosecutor's Office, there is the Investigative Committee, so that they train their own, to work together with the headquarters.

'The Supreme Commander-in-Chief [dictator Vladimir Putin], commanders, defence ministers know this HQ. And they thank us for putting such a system in [Chechnya].

'We support our men who fight for the truth, for religion, for the people, for human values.

'I ask once again that you not only deal with internal, Chechen issues, but also deal with new territories [invaded Ukraine], as instructed by the President.'

Separately, he was shown in the gym with his closest cronies but the camera angles appeared to hide his bloated abdomen - and it was not clear when the clip was filmed. 

One comment by opposition channel Gulagu channel said: 'For whom did Ramzan decide to film this and why did he think that there were so many idiots around?

'It only takes a minute for any amateur athlete, not to mention a professional, to understand the level of Kadyrov's physical fitness - it's simply not good.'

He 'pushes and puffs with 7kg and 14kg dumbbells, used by young girls and aspiring teenagers to warm up,' Gulagu wrote. 

'It is obvious that the idea to film this video failed and its authors made Ramzan out to be a clown and a weakling.'

Chechen warlord and key Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov, 47, shown in a gym

He was shown in the gym with his closest cronies but the camera angles appeared to hide his bloated abdomen

Kadyrov was this week seen speaking slowly in a monotone to his top aides - many of them uniformed - in a video released to show he was in control

Kadyrov is notorious for human rights abuses, torture and extra-judicial killings in Russia and abroad 

Novaya Gazette Europe now says that Kadyrov - notorious for human rights abuses, torture and extra-judicial killings in Russia and abroad - was hospitalised at Moscow's elite Central Clinical Hospital, also known as the Kremlin Clinic, for about a month with acute pulmonary failure after overdosing on sleeping pills that reportedly helped him relieve the pain.

Doctors stabilised his respiratory function but MRI findings indicated he would not be able to make a full recovery.

The newspaper, founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov, cited sources close to Kadyrov as well as doctors in the Russian presidential administration's hospital.

Astonishingly, one of his closest allies Adam Delimkhanov was quoted saying: 'The old leader will no longer be there, the illness will seriously affect him.

'Even if he recovers now, he'll be neither alive nor dead.'

The newspaper revealed: 'He developed severe shortness of breath, spoke with difficulty, walked slowly, and dressed too warmly for the Chechen climate.'

In September 2023, amid health rumours, Kadyrov posted a bizarre 'I am alive' video from inside the Kremlin's leading hospital.

He pretended he was visiting his sickly uncle, but it now appears he was the patient.

Kadyrov - a father of at least 14, who is believed to have three wives in a polygamous set-up - has lately been handing out honours to his children, some of whom occupy key government positions.

In a madcap move in November, he appointed his then 15-year-old son Adam as the head of his security service comprising hundreds of armed operatives.

But Putin is rumoured to have earmarked a military commander loyal to Kadyrov as his successor - Major-General Apti Alaudinov, 50.

Kadyrov is one of Vladimir Putin's closest allies who has supplied tens of thousands of troops for his illegal war in Ukraine.