Tag: Chechnya

Putin inspects troops readying to fight Ukraine in surprise trip to Chechnya

(Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on Tuesday inspected Chechen troops and volunteers readying to fight Ukraine, the Kremlin said, in what was Putin’s first trip in 13 years to the North Caucasus republic. The previously unannounced trip to the mostly Muslim republic that is part of Russia comes as Moscow fights to push Ukrainian forces out of its Kursk region two weeks after they smashed through the border in the […]

Chechen strongman Kadyrov says he is in Ukraine

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman leader of Chechnya, said Monday that he was in Ukraine alongside Russian forces who are leading an offensive in the country. Kadyrov, who is accused by international NGOs of serious human rights violations in the tightly controlled Caucasus republic, posted a video on Telegram of himself in military uniform studying plans around a table with soldiers in a room. He said in a message that the video […]

Chechnya leader says his fighters killed in Ukraine

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – The strongman leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said Tuesday that Chechens have been killed in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Kadyrov, a former rebel-turned-Kremlin-ally, has given his backing for President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine, sending his notorious fighters to the country. “Unfortunately, there are already losses among the natives of the Chechen Republic. Two died, six more were injured to varying degrees,” Kadyrov said on Telegram. Kadyrov, in charge of Russia’s […]

Friend of Paris knife attacker arrested in Strasbourg: source

PARIS, France (AFP)–A friend of the Chechen-born man who killed one person during a stabbing spree in Paris on Saturday night has been arrested in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, a source close to the inquiry said Sunday. The attacker, whom official sources have named as Khamzat A., grew up with his family in Strasbourg, home to a large community of refugees from the Muslim Russian republic of Chechnya.