Russian MP Adam Delimkhanov is “alive and well” and sends his regards, Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the Russian State Duma, told lawmakers as he opened session on Wednesday.
The remark followed reports that Delimkhanov, who hails from Chechnya and is a close associate of Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the region, was either killed or injured.
Volodin urged journalists to be more careful with their coverage, especially when it could hurt the feelings of family members of alleged victims. He neither confirmed nor denied reports that appeared in the Russian media about Delimkhanov’s purported injury.
Zvezda, the official publication of the Russian Defense Ministry, reported earlier in the day that Delimkhanov had been hurt, citing the press service of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament. The message was later revised and attributed to a journalist covering the State Duma.
Speculation about Delimkhanov’s health was triggered on Wednesday by Ukrainian political commentator Kirill Sazonov, who claimed in a Facebook post that Ukrainian commandos had ambushed Delimkhanov’s motorcade in Zaporozhye Region. It was claimed that the attack had involved artillery shelling and led to numerous casualties.
Kadyrov reacted by stating that he could not contact his associate and offered the Ukrainian intelligence service a “generous reward” for detailed information about where exactly he had been attacked, “so that I could find my dear brother.”
Alty Alaudinov, a senior Chechen commando officer, told TASS that Delimkhanov was currently in Chechnya and that Ukrainians “constantly ‘kill’ us in places where we are not.”
The 53-year-old Russian official, who has been described by some as Kadyrov’s right-hand man, also served as a commander for Chechen forces participating in the military operation against Ukraine. Last year, he was honored with the country’s highest military decoration for his courage during the fighting in Donbass.
On Monday, Delimkhanov attended a ceremony at which a unit of Chechen volunteers signed a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry, formalizing the fighters’ status on the battlefield.