Ramzan Kadyrov says that not only will there be a Russian offensive against Mariupol, but also against other Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, writes Reuters.
– We will liberate Luhansk and Donetsk completely first, and then take Kyiv and all other cities, he says in a Telegram video according to the news agency.
Kadyrov says there should be no doubt that they will conquer Kyiv.
– I assure you, not a single step will be taken back, he says.
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Promised to reduce attacks
Kadyrov was recently promoted to lieutenant general in the Russian army for his role in the invasion of Ukraine. His in practice private army, the infamous “Kadyrovites”fighting side by side with Russian forces in the war.
In connection with the negotiations, Russia has previously promised to reduce its attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and the city of Chernihiv, in northern Ukraine.
– Brings young girls
The Russian army has warned that it will instead concentrate on liberating the Donbas region of eastern Ukrainewhere the two separatist-controlled counties are located.
– The combat potential of Ukraine’s armed forces has been greatly reduced, which I want to emphasize means that we can once again focus on the main goal, the liberation of the Donbas, said Chief of Operations of the Russian General Staff Sergei Rudskoy at the end of March.
He emphasized, however, that Russia “will continue the planned special operation until the objectives set by the Commander-in-Chief have been fully achieved”.
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Private army
Already in the early days of the war, Kadyrov announced that he “has 70,000 volunteer forces ready to fight for our state, Russia,” and during a grand event in the capital Grozny on February 25, 10,000 of his subjects volunteered for service.
Chechnya is one of Russia’s sub-republics, and has been ravaged by internal unrest for decades. Kadyrov and Putin are interdependent; while the elected Kadyrov does not help the Russian president keep the Islamist forces in the region in check, he has Putin behind him as sole ruler of the republic.
PUTIN AND KADYROV: Vladimir Putin and Ramzan Kadyrov have a mutual dependency. Photo: Reuters / NTB Click to add image caption
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The “Kadyrovites” attracted early attention in the Ukraine war, because an elite unit, according to Ukrainian authorities, was sent to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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