Publications featuring Adam Kadyrov are intended to disguise his absence from the public sphere.

A week after reports of an accident in Grozny, Adam Kadyrov has still not appeared in any new videos. Publications featuring him on the accounts of Chechen officials and the stories of the third son of the head of Chechnya only highlight the lack of up-to-date information about his condition and whereabouts.

As "Caucasian Knot" reported, the motorcade of Ramzan Kadyrov's third son was involved in an accident in Grozny. Adam Kadyrov and those accompanying him were injured, sources claim. Against this backdrop, on January 16, official media published a refutation of the information about the death of UFC champion Khamzat Chimaev in an accident. For six days, Chechen authorities neither confirmed nor denied reports of a traffic accident involving Adam Kadyrov, nor was there any official statement on his condition. Amid discussion of the traffic accident involving him in Grozny, Adam Kadyrov posted a story on his Instagram* account featuring a monologue from the series "Game of Thrones" and music by Chechen bard Timur Mutsuraev.

What Chechen officials and athletes published about Adam Kadyrov after reports of the accident

On January 17, the day after the accident in Grozny was reported, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov published a report on a meeting chaired by his son Adam. He also announced that Adam Kadyrov had been awarded an award for ensuring the safety of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. The video was recorded a day before the alleged accident, journalists discovered.

On January 18, UAE mixed martial artist Khamzat Chimaev of Chechen descent posted a photo with Adam Kadyrov on his Instagram story*, accompanied by the phrase in Chechen, "No matter what the road—whether with goats or horses—we're okay with it," RIA Novosti reported that same day.

That same day, Chimaev recorded a video, which he also posted on his social media story. "I'm alive, not dead, as some would probably like. I'm in Abu Dhabi, the weather is good," the Chechen television company Vainakh quotes a translation of his words. In the video, Chimaeva is driving a car.

Chechnya's authorities have not commented on the reports of the accident. The head of the republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, remains silent about his son's whereabouts and condition. Aishat Kadyrov's brother and sister have not reported on him, nor have Chechen state media.

On January 20, Iskhak Chalayev, head of the Gudermes District Department of Internal Affairs, posted a video on his Instagram page in which he is pictured in the company of Adam Kadyrov. According to the video, Adam Kadyrov and Iskhak Chalayev are in the snow.

In the past 24 hours, Minister of Culture Isa Ibragimov, Deputy Mayor of Grozny Khalid Kadyrov, and Head of the Nozhai-Yurt District Department of Internal Affairs Murad Chalayev have shared separate Instagram stories* with old photos of Adam Kadyrov. Isa Ibragimov also posted stories with black-and-white photos of Adam Kadyrov without any caption.

Khalid Kadyrov also posted a black-and-white photo of Adam Kadyrov, accompanied by a brief caption in Chechen: "Our brother."

The posts appeared coordinated and appeared amid a lack of official commentary on the incident. All stories were posted without explanation. Some Instagram users* noted that the photos used had been previously published and were not related to recent events.

As for Ramzan Kadyrov, three posts have been published on his Telegram channel over the past two days, all without mentioning Adam Kadyrov. His most recent post was about a meeting in Grozny held on January 22 regarding the republic's transition to a single-tier local government system. A video was attached to the post, judging by which more than 20 officials were present at the meeting – Adam Kadyrov was not among them.

Old posts were also used for stories on Adam Kadyrov's account.

On January 21, two stories were published on Adam Kadyrov's Instagram page*. One of them is a story featuring a monologue from the series "Game of Thrones" and music by Chechen bard Timur Mutsuraev. In the video, Adam Kadyrov is seen wearing a cowboy hat.

Adam Kadyrov's press service also has an Instagram page*, which claims the video of Kadyrov's son wearing the hat was filmed on January 10th at a mixed martial arts tournament in Grozny. Following the alleged accident, the page posted five birthday greetings to various Chechen officials "on behalf of the assistant to the head of the Chechen Republic and Secretary of the Security Council, Adam Kadyrov." Over the course of a week, the page published a few congratulatory posts, but none of them contained any material confirming Adam Kadyrov's participation in official events, nor any videos from such events.

The second story is a photograph of Adam Kadyrov with his close friend Aslan Zhulagov, in which Kadyrov poses with a pistol. The photo was taken no later than November 24, 2025, the day Zhulagov himself posted it on his account.

As of 12:40 p.m. Moscow time, the story with the photo remains publicly accessible. A story featuring Eddard Stark's monologue from "Game of Thrones" and the introduction of material added to the list of extremist materials was published earlier and disappeared from public view 24 hours later.