Following a car accident in Grozny, Adam Kadyrov, the third son of Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov, reportedly had his spleen removed. Journalists from the Russian independent media outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe also reported, citing sources, that he may lose sight in one eye due to damage to his optic nerve.
According to the journalists, after nearly three weeks of treatment at Moscow’s Botkin Hospital, 18-year-old Adam Kadyrov has been discharged, making his first public appearance since the car accident that allegedly occurred on 16 January.
His father Ramzan Kadyrov first commented on the accident only after his son returned to Chechnya, during a meeting with the republic’s prosecutor, Arsan Adaev.
‘Across the country, 128,000 accidents occurred, 13,009 people died, but no one cares, no one says anything. Yet suddenly the news about my son’s accident became number one in the world media’, Kadyrov said.
On 10 February, Ramzan Kadyrov’s official Telegram channel published the first video featuring Adam Kadyrov since his prolonged treatment.
The post read: ‘Late dinner with my dear brother, aide to the Head of the Chechen Republic Vismurad Aliev, and Secretary of the Security Council of the Chechen Republic Adam Kadyrov, “resurrected” despite recent rumours’.
The attached video, which is less than a minute long, shows Ramzan Kadyrov and his aide eating ice cream or yoghurt, while Adam Kadyrov is present in the frame but does not eat. It also appeared that Adam Kadyrov had visibly lost weight.
Adam Kadyrov sustained injuries in the accident that were initially not considered life-threatening. Nevertheless, his father insisted on hospitalising him in one of Moscow’s top clinics.
Elizaveta Chukharova
According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, Adam Kadyrov had his spleen removed at Botkin Hospital and was placed on a strict six-month diet, excluding fatty meats as well as spicy or salty foods. In addition, he was diagnosed with a fractured jaw, which temporarily prevented him from eating solid foods.
The only serious consequence of the accident, according to Novaya Gazeta Europe’s sources, was the damage to his optic nerve. Hospital representatives reportedly cannot yet determine the outcome of the injury, and there is a risk that Adam Kadyrov could partially or completely lose vision in one eye.
Three bodyguards who were travelling in the lead car of Adam Kadyrov’s convoy at the time of the accident sustained far more serious injuries. All three have disappeared from public view since the accident.
According to the opposition Chechen Telegram channel NIYSO, at least two of them — Bislan Kaimov and Apti Iraskhanov, the nephew of Chechnya’s interior minister Aslan Iraskhanov — were evacuated to Moscow and hospitalised at the Central Clinical Hospital of the Russian Presidential Administration with severe head and spinal injuries.
The hospitalisation of Bislan Kaimov, considered a close friend of Adam Kadyrov, was confirmed by his brother, who posted videos and photographs from the hospital. According to NIYSO sources, Kaimov suffered a severe traumatic brain injury and may remain paralysed for life.
There is no confirmed information on the condition of the third bodyguard.
