MOSCOW, May 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has been taken to hospital with suspected coronavirus, Russian media report.
He was flown to Moscow on Wednesday for treatment after developing flu-like symptoms, said Interfax news agency quoting a source.
“He’s in hospital in Moscow,” another source told the Ria Novosti agency.
The authoritarian leader – who previously fought against Moscow as a Chechen nationalist – is now a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Unconfirmed reports suggested a plane belonging to the 43-year-old leader was tracked flying from near the Chechen capital, Grozny, to Vnukovo airport in Moscow on Thursday afternoon.
His condition is unknown, although initial reports suggested his doctor had recommended he travel to the Russian capital.
A close ally of the Chechen leader, Grozny TV chief Akhmed Dudayev, was quoted by Tass news agency as saying Ramzan Kadyrov “is personally in control of the situation, he is taking all necessary measures. The work of his headquarters is under his personal control”.
If the virus is confirmed, Kadyrov would be the latest high-profile Russian official to contract the illness.
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin only returned to work in the last few days after being treated in hospital for Covid-19.
President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov also tested positive, as did culture minister Olga Lyubimova and construction minister Vladimir Yakushev – as well as Yakushev’s deputy, Dmitry Volkov.
The southern republic has tightened its lockdown measures this weekend, banning all travel for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr.
According to Chechen data, 1,026 people have been diagnosed in the republic and 11 have died.
In neighbouring Dagestan dozens of medics are reported to have died and doctors speak of hospitals full of patients, but the number of confirmed cases is low.
On Thursday Russia’s reported death toll rose by 127 in the previous 24 hours to 3,099, with confirmed cases jumping to 317,554.
It is the second highest number of recorded infections worldwide.
The government in Moscow says the outbreak nationally is stabilising. The daily rise in new cases has dropped in recent days. On Wednesday, the number of people discharged from hospital after recovery for the first time exceeded the number of new infections over the previous 24 hours.
