An opposition politician claims Kadyrov buried alive his health minister over the failed transplant.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman who rules the Chechen Republic since 2007, is experiencing kidney rejection after a transplant, and things are currently going not too well for him, high-ranking Russian sources revealed to an opposition figure on the condition of anonymity. 

The head of Chechnya underwent a kidney operation around October 2022, but it went poorly, according to Gennady Gudkov, a former member of the State Duma, lower chamber of the Russian parliament.

Gudkov said in an interview with Novaya Gazeta journalist Yulia Latynnina on 14 September that Kadyrov's health problems had been so severe that he required a kidney transplant. It is unknown where the surgery was held, but it appears to be unsuccessful. Kidney rejection has begun, he claimed. 

"I asked prominent Chechen officials whether he (Kadyrov) is fooling around, getting high on drugs, or it’s really a health issue. They told me that his kidneys were indeed in a big trouble.

There was a surgery, a kidney transplant, which allegedly has not gone well. His body has not really accepted the new kidneys and some abscesses started... His health is really in a very bad state," Gudkov explained.

Rumors of a sudden deterioration in Kadyrov's health emerged in the spring of 2023. One indicator of his illness was the noticeable change in his appearance: he had gained a significant amount of weight and appeared swollen and unhealthy. A kidney version of the story emerged immediately, with speculations suggesting that the problems were the result of poisoning.

Kadyrov, who now spends more time abroad than in Chechnya while attempting to recover at clinics in friendly countries, immediately blamed his health minister for the failed transplant.

Chechen Health Minister Elkhan Suleymanov, however, disappeared without a trace in the Russian Federation, soon after the surgery.

Ramzan Kadyrov and Elkhan Suleymanov at a party in Grozny, capital of Chechnya.

The same sources claimed that Kadyrov accused Suleymanov of deliberate poisoning, given that he had personally watched over the operation and had provided medication for injection into Kadyrov’s body. Suleymanov may have been killed on the orders of the Chechen leader, in the most terrifying way – buried alive.

This version is also maintained by a Telegram channel called VCHK-OGPU. Before being murdered, the minister was fired from the post.

There is no independent confirmation of these allegations, and it is impossible to contact Suleymanov. Being a non-Chechen by ethnicity, Suleymanov was a professor, specialized in surgery and oncology, and worked in Moscow and Germany. Since 2014, he served as personal physician to the Kadyrov family.

Last month, Kadyrov, in an unconscious state, recorded a new video with critical remarks against the United States.

The Chechen leader has been under Western sanctions for his close ties with President Vladimir Putin and the participation of Chechen regular troops in the Ukrainian war on Russia’s side.