Kadyrov, 43, was reportedly flown to the Russian capital Wednesday, a few days after reporting flu-like symptoms, the Baza Telegram channel reported earlier Thursday. Chechen doctors recommended that Kadyrov seek treatment there after his “condition began deteriorating rapidly,” Baza said.

The Telegram channel cited medical data as saying that Kadyrov has been diagnosed with lung damage and a suspected COVID-19 infection.

“He is under doctors’ supervision,” Interfax cited its source as saying.

It is noted that a private jet linked to Kadyrov arrived at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport from the Chechen capital of Grozny on Thursday.

Kadyrov’s official page on Russian social network Vkontakte has posted several updates in the past 24 hours, including posts on his charitable donations and birthday greetings for Russia’s defense minister, but has not yet addressed his alleged infection. 

Kadyrov was last active on his Telegram account on Tuesday, while Instagram blocked his page last week.

Kadyrov has briefly transferred power twice — once in 2020 and once in 2019 — to undergo medical procedures. Other than a decree on law enforcement dated May 20, no similar orders ceding power to Kadyrov’s aides have appeared on the Chechen administration’s website.

Kadyrov has ruled Chechnya since 2007.

While he initially dismissed the coronavirus, Kadyrov has since imposed one of Russia’s harshest coronavirus lockdowns, sealing off the region’s internal borders, enacting a curfew and promising severe punishments for violating quarantine.