- A squad of Chechen special forces ‘hunters’ has been ordered to detain or kill specific Ukrainian officials
- The kill squad was pictured in a Ukrainian forest as they took part in prayer rituals ahead of potential fighting
- It came after Ramzan Kadyrov, 45, the republic’s leader and a close Putin ally, visited his forces in Ukraine
- Each soldier was reportedly given a special ‘deck of cards’ with Ukrainian officials’ photos
When it comes to The Kadyrovts, the first thing that comes to your mind should be the special forces of Chechnya. As the ace of the Russian special forces, they are often synonymous with “devil”, “nightmare”, and ruthless fighters with no mercy. The movement of the 7,000 Kadyrovts fighters’ has attracted much attention since Putin ordered military operations against Ukraine.
As the most powerful republic in the Russian Federation, the Chechens have been invaded by nearby countries since the third century AD. After years of wars, the customs of the people are unusually aggressive, which Putin described as hard to control. The aggression did not become relatively stable until the Tsarist Russia period. For a long time, they were highly vigilant about war, which made the Chechens always advocate force.
Putin rarely mentioned the relevant situation of the Chechen army. According to foreign media reports, this time the Chechen troops have appeared in the eastern part of Ukraine, that is, the front line of the Donbass, which is Ukraine’s Russian border gateway. It is expected that the Chechen army will form a multi-faceted attack with the Russian frontal army, leaving no room for a counterattack against Ukraine.
According to reports, this time, Chechen President Jr. Kadyrov is on high alert. Not only did he mobilize before the war on the domestic square, but at least one Chechen special force went to the Belarusian border to conduct “pre-war prayers”. These early Chechen special vanguard units belonged to the 249th Special Battalion of the 46th Independent Combat Brigade of the Russian Army, which is the Chechen “Southern Blade” that had previously participated in Russia’s overseas military operations such as Syria.
Jr Kadyrov has long released words, demanding that Ukrainian President Zelensky immediately apologize to Putin, otherwise he will be strongly retaliated by Chechnya. It can be said that as long as Putin lets go, the entire Chechen army will rush to the forefront, forming a major deterrent to the Ukrainian army.
However, the Ukrainian side is still stubbornly resisting. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense released the latest news that on February 26, local time, the Ukrainian army defeated a special force from Chechnya in the Khostomel region, including a commander of the Chechen special forces Officer killed. The Russian side has not yet confirmed or responded to the news, but Chechen President Kadyrov responded that day that no soldiers were injured or killed.
“The Ukrainian National Guard and special forces are already dealing with Chechens,” a source in the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said, adding that none of the Chechen special forces were going to kill people in Ukraine. Recently, the news of the Chechen special forces on the Internet has been very intensive. Ramzan Kadyrov said that the Russian special forces and Russian soldiers went to Ukraine to end the atrocities, and no soldiers went to Ukraine to kill people.
Kadyrov called both the Chechen army and special forces “Russian soldiers” this time, which can be regarded as showing his loyalty to Putin. He also pointed out that the Ukrainian people are the kindest, and there is no problem with the Ukrainian soldiers. “All the questions are for Bandera nationalists and terrorists who came to Ukraine after killing residents of the Chechen Republic and are hiding here, and we want to deal with them too,” Kadyrov said.
But according to military experts, Kadyrov should be the one who understands the meaning of “terrorist” best. After the anti-terrorist operation in Chechnya started in August 1999, Kadyrov changed his original pro-Western stance and supported The army of the Russian Federation carried out extensive military operations in Chechnya. As a result, the Kadyrov family was also sanctioned by the West. The most difficult Chechen illegal armed forces were chased and killed. Jr. Kadyrov started a bloody period with his father turbulent life.
After the Russian army settled in Chechnya, in 2007, the 31-year-old Kadyrov became the president of the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation under the promotion of Putin gave the Chechen army a chance.
But there will be casualties in war, and there is no need to transition to the mythical Chechen special forces. As for Russia, the key is to end the war as soon as possible to avoid falling into a protracted war, and it is Putin’s job not to leave some room for survival for NATO and Ukraine’s pro-Western factions.