"The bandits will be destroyed," Putin said at the time, in an echo of how he would talk of the "Nazis" he now claims to be purging from Ukraine’s government and military. "We must go through the mountain caves and scatter and destroy all those who are armed."
So when Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov announced earlier this week that he was in Ukraine to support Putin’s invasion, it seemed as if the past had caught up with the present. Even though Kadyrov’s journey to the front — he claimed on social media to have nearly reached the capital, Kyiv, which is still under Ukrainian control — may have been fictitious, amounting to little more than a publicity stunt, some say his involvement could lead to an even bloodier conflict.
Related:
Ramzan Kadyrov: 2022-03-17 Perspective of the Breakaway Republics: Military summary of the LDNR. The situation on the line of contact on March 16 (updated
Ramzan Kadyrov: 2022-03-16 Perspective from the Breakaway Republics: Military summary of the LDNR. The situation on the line of contact on March 15 (update
Ramzan Kadyrov: 2022-03-14 Putin’s Chechen strongman Kadyrov says he is in Ukraine
Ramzan Kadyrov: 2022-03-17 Perspective of the Breakaway Republics: Military summary of the LDNR. The situation on the line of contact on March 16 (updated
Ramzan Kadyrov: 2022-03-16 Perspective from the Breakaway Republics: Military summary of the LDNR. The situation on the line of contact on March 15 (update
Ramzan Kadyrov: 2022-03-14 Putin’s Chechen strongman Kadyrov says he is in Ukraine