On 26 May, the leader of the autonomous Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov reappeared on the air of local television companies after an 11-day absence since he supposedly contracted coronavirus. 

The footage showed Kadyrov holding a meeting at the operational headquarters for combatting coronavirus. At the meeting Kadyrov admitted that “three weeks ago,“ the Chechen authorities still “did not know what measures to take.” “Today, there is already an understanding of what to do,” he said.

Some social media users pointed out that a catheter was partially visible in Kadyrov’s right hand at the footage. “In the video, the head of the republic looks like a man suffering from a severe illness – he is pale, thin, has a puffy face, is short of breath, and showing obvious physical weakness,” wrote the Russian Newspaper Novaya Gazeta. 

Speaking live on air, Kadyrov showed that he had no catheter fixed and stated that he was healthy but was undergoing a pre-planned medical examination in a Moscow hospital. He explained that he was obliged, as the head of a Russian federal republic, to undergo regular medical examinations and spend at least a day and a half in the hospital. “I needed to undergo a medical examination; we are obliged to undergo it every year. Everyone around is called on to drink tea with lemon, and to strengthen one's immunity. But can't I at least have a dropper? And so, I'm absolutely healthy,” he said. 

A week earlier, various media sources speculated that Kadyrov was being closely watched in Russia’s capital city in Moscow as he was suspected to have contracted COVID-19 (Caucasus Watch reported).  

On 25 May, the Mufti of the Chechen republic Salakh Mezhiev lifted the ban on organizing weddings during the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, the Mufti clarified that mass weddings were still under ban.

The current tally of reported Covid-19 cases in Russia is 379 051. In Chechnya there were a total of 1174 cases reported and 13 deaths.