Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov has publicly commented for the first time on reports of a road traffic incident in which, according to several independent media outlets, his son Adam Kadyrov was involved. Ramzan Kadyrov stopped short of explicitly saying the reports were false, but instead described them a ‘leak that appeared from nowhere’ which had ‘become the number one story in global news’.
The crash reportedly occurred on 16 January. According to several independent sources, 18-year-old Adam Kadyrov was involved, leading him to receive medical care. The Chechen authorities and state media have so far not reported on the incident, however.
Ramzan Kadyrov’s first statements on this topic came during a meeting with Chechen Prosecutor General Arsan Adaev. The video of the meeting was published on Kadyrov’s official Telegram channel on Monday.
‘With the help of artificial intelligence, anyone can be deceived. In this country, 128,000 accidents have occurred, 13,009 people have died, yet nobody cares, nobody says anything’, Kadyrov said, commenting on the reports of the car crash.
The text accompanying the video emphasised the ‘urgency of fighting fake news’, with Kadyrov promising to strengthen measures to counter the spread of ‘false information’. According to him, false information concerning Chechnya ‘always, for some reason, becomes the cause of particular hype in the media sphere’.
Kadyrov did not, however, provide any details that could refute claims the car crash had happened.
Elizaveta Chukharova
Following the alleged crash, posts featuring Adam Kadyrov appeared on his official accounts, as well as on those belonging to other government personnel. However, all of these appearances were later to be determined to be archival footage.
Currently, there are no reliable official reports on Adam Kadyrov’s health or whereabouts. He has not appeared at any public events or in official news reports in recent weeks.
Adam Kadyrov is often considered to be Ramzan Kadyrov’s heir apparent. In 2023, he was awarded a number of state awards and was appointed head of the head of the republic’s security service. In 2025, he became secretary of Chechnya’s Security Council.
