Who is Ramzan Kadyrov?

VLADIMIR Putin's Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov has been a staunch supporter of the war in Ukraine. 

But Kadyrov - the President of the Chechen Republic - has been facing an onslaught of health issues.

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The former separatist rebel fought against the Russians in the First Chechen War, only to change sides and join Moscow in the second conflict in 1999.

Human rights groups say he personally oversees the torture of political opponents in secret dungeons and runs death squads known as "Kadyrovites".

Who is Ramzan Kadyrov?

Ramzan Kadyrov was born in Chechnya in 1976, and like many men of his generation has lived a life largely defined by two brutal wars that ripped through the republic in the 1990s and 2000s.

In the first Chechen war of 1994 to 1996, he fought alongside his father, Akhmad Kadyrov, for the Chechen separatist cause.

But in 1999, after Mr Putin launched the second Chechen war to restore Russian control over the break away republic, the Kadyrovs changed sides.

Akhmad was subsequently installed as the pro-Russian president of the republic.

When he was assassinated in 2004, the baton of pro-Russian leadership passed to his stocky son.

The tracksuit wearing bodybuilder was not an obvious politician after being backed by Putin, he quickly become one of the most powerful men in Russia.

But as he has grown more powerful, he has become an increasingly divisive figure in Russian politics.

To supporters, he is a Russian patriot who has brought peace to a war ravaged region, presided over unprecedented post-war recovery and reconstruction.

To his enemies  he is a turn-coat rebel who has turned Chechnya into his personal fiefdom where Russian law doesn’t apply, and who has used terror and murder to crush not only the separatist Islamist insurgency, but political rivals, human rights activists, and domestic dissenters.

What does Ramzan Kadyrov do now?

Ramzan continues to lead an interesting life and with seemingly unlimited resources.

The leader has surrounded himself with showbiz pals and bizarre exotic pets, including a lion and a rare endangered tiger.

He is a keen boxer who counts Mike Tyson and hardman actor Steven Seagal among his friends, and he has a habit of handing out wads of £20 notes among his subjects.

In recent years, however, his health has been under speculation, even as he's appeared with Putin to voice support for the war in Ukraine.

The warlord even claimed he was sending his three sons to fight in Ukraine, and shared a bizarre video showing the three boys practising firing weapons.

Is Ramzan Kadyrov married?

Ramzan was married to Russian fashion designer Medni Kadyrova in 1996, and the pair share roughly 12 children.

It was revealed in 2021 that the warlord may have a second wife - Fatima Khazuyeva.

Fatima and Ramzan reportedly met when she was only 14 years old, in a 2006 beauty pageant.

Some have even speculated that he has a third wife - singer and dancer Aminat Akhmadova, whom he is rumoured to have two other children with.

How is Ramzan Kadyrov doing?

The current status of Ramzan remains unknown, but rumours have swirled since early 2022 about the warlord's health.

In early 2023, he was forced to deny he had any health issues, and posted on social media that he was "healthy and full of energy."

In September 2023, a Ukrainian spokesperson revealed the strongman's "existing diseases" had worsened and he was reportedly in a coma.