Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, known for his close ties to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, reportedly nearly drowned while swimming at a popular Turkish resort.
According to local media, the incident occurred on Thursday, July 24 in the city of Muğla.
Kadyrov was staying at a five-star hotel near Kainar Beach. Around midday, he went to the beach and entered the water, but within minutes began to choke and lose control, showing signs of drowning.
Hotel staff reacted quickly: they called rescuers and medics, who pulled Kadyrov from the water and provided first aid. The Chechen leader was taken to a hospital by ambulance. His life is not in danger.
Although several Turkish media outlets have reported on the incident, Kadyrov has not commented on it so far. Major Russian Telegram channels also remain silent, which likely indicates an attempt to hide the incident from a broader audience in Russia.
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Last May, Kadyrov responded to recent health rumors by releasing a video that says, “illness and death are the path of every person,” neither confirming nor denying the rumors.
Kadyrov purportedly asked Putin to relieve him of his duties amid growing speculations about his health and political future, but he later retracted the statement, saying he was misunderstood.
“Our time is predetermined; we must live it consciously, without spreading empty rumors and sowing discord,” he said. “I hear gossip about my illness more and more often. They say I’m dying, I don’t have much left.”
“First, illness and death are the path of every person. None of those who live have avoided this path. Secondly, neither illness nor threat shortens life. Its length is determined only by the one who gave the gift of breath,” he added.
He also called those spreading the rumors “gossipers without courage” who “hide abroad like mice.”
“If I am destined to live 50, 60, or 70 years, I will live them as intended, and no one will take away a single day,” he added.
On May 5, Novaya Gazeta Europe reported he was preparing to hand over power and had named his teenage son Adam as his likely successor.
The outlet previously reported in 2024 that Kadyrov had suffered from pancreatic necrosis for more than five years, a condition with a high death rate.
In 2024, Kyiv Post exclusively reported that following rumors that Ramzan Kadyrov had a fatal illness, a senior pro-Ukrainian Chechen rebel officer, Abdul Khakim, said work was in progress to create an insurgent army to liberate Chechnya from Kremlin rule.
Khakim said the main effect of Ramzan Kadyrov’s death would be great joy for the Chechen people.
“All Chechens, and not only Chechens, are tired of this character and his crazy antics and statements on the internet. So everyone will have very positive emotions,” he said.
Elected president of Chechnya in 2007 after the death of his father, Kadyrov has maintained a tight grip on the majority-Muslim Chechnya Republic inside Russia amid widespread reports of extrajudicial killings and torture of opponents.
Kadyrov’s Chechen fighters have been fighting in Ukraine since the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Kadyrovites – a name coined for Chechen military personnel loyal to Kadyrov – were involved in numerous combat operations within Ukraine, including Mariupol and Sievierodonetsk.
He also claimed he would send his teenage sons – aged 14, 15, and 16 – to fight in Ukraine, though there have not been confirmed reports of him doing so.
In May 2024, Kadyrov appointed one of his sons, then 18-year-old Akhmat Kadyrov, as the Minister of the Chechen Republic for Physical Culture and Sports in the son’s second ministerial posting the same year.