18-year-old Adam Kadyrov, the son and possible successor of Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, has been hospitalized in a critical condition after a car accident, according to RFE/RL citing sources.
Two sources told the outlet that Kadyrov had been taken to a hospital in Grozny to be placed in intensive care.
“The roads to the hospital are closed because Adam was taken there. He’s unconscious and in intensive care, they say. We don’t know for certain what his condition is,” one of the Grozny-based sources said.
The opposition-linked Telegram channel NIYSO claimed that Adam Kadyrov’s motorcade had been traveling at high speed when a collision occurred between several vehicles and a number of people.
It reported that the 18-year-old was undergoing resuscitation and being prepared for emergency transport to Moscow.
NIYSO told RFE/RL that the information had been provided to them from several sources, highlighting that they could not say with any certainty what condition Adam Kadyrov was in.
Some reports on Telegram have also stated that the son of another high-ranking Chechen official was injured in the crash.
Adam Kadyrov, who turned 18 in 2025 and is widely regarded as his father’s intended successor, has served as head of the Security Service of the President of the Chechen Republic since November 2023.
That month, he also gained notoriety after a video showed him brutally assaulting a prisoner at a police detention center who had been accused of burning a copy of the Quran while in Volgograd.
Although the incident sparked uproar even from Kremlin hardliners, the elder Kadyrov shared the footage on social media and expressed pride in his son for acquiring “adult ideals of honor, dignity, and defense of his religion.”
Adam Kadyrov was later showered with awards, among them the region’s highest honor, the title of Hero of the Republic of Chechnya, and an accolade for “the strengthening of traditional Islamic values.”
He also serves as Secretary of Chechnya’s Security Council and oversees the Chechen Interior Ministry.
The reported crash comes after weeks of speculation about the poor health of 49-year-old Ramzan Kadyrov, who is reported to be suffering from acute pancreatic necrosis and kidney problems.
The Russian opposition outlet Novaya Gazeta reported that he had been hospitalized while in Moscow, where he was supposed to attend a state council meeting led by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Dec. 25.
On Jan. 11, a source in the Ukrainian military’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) told Ukrainian outlets that Kadyrov’s kidneys had failed and that the Kremlin was already looking for a new leader of Chechnya.
The HUR source also said that the Chechen warlord is currently in his own hospital in Chechnya, with members of his family clan coming to visit him across borders.
Kadyrov has ruled Chechnya since 2007.