by Martha Serafini
The Chechen leader returns to attack Ukraine’s president after Putin gave him a mandate to kill him early in the invasion. And he says about NATO allies: They hand over weapons to be washed
FROM OUR REPORTER
Kyiv – As always when the Kremlin calls, Chechen leader Kadyrov responds by acknowledging the difficulties of Moscow’s propaganda. In a video posted to his Telegram channel, Kadyrov again threatens Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, sitting on the sofa, and repeats the allegations of Satanism made in Kyiv also by Foreign Minister spokesman Maria Zakharova after the Ukrainian government’s decision to overthrow him made from the land of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church loyal to the Patriarch of Moscow Kiril. “We must attack the den of satanists in the center of Kyiv! It is necessary to defeat the main defender and agitator of this cowardly ideology: Zelenskyy,” said Kadyrov, who last February – as the Wall Street Journal recently recalled – received an order from Putin to kill the Ukrainian president.
In his propaganda video, the Chechen leader also reproaches Kiev’s allies: “I see that some are concerned about foreign aid to Ukraine. Don’t worry! This is a money laundering scheme. Western and Ukrainian officials will loot these funds and no more than 15% of the total amount of assistance will reach the trenches. It’s better to take care of something else.’ Nato Kadyrov then said, threatening the allies: “You miscalculated on one thing: we honor our traditions, religion, culture. It is impossible to deceive believers with foreign “values” when the Koran is burned on the streets of the West and newspapers with caricatures of the Prophet are sold on the shelves. We are at war against Satanism and all of its worst manifestations. You know what I’m talking about, I don’t want to list everything. This is our spiritual strength. And that spirit cannot be broken! Yes, the population of Ukraine is dying. But they should be offended that they are dying in vain for the West’s right to hold rainbow parades in front of children, and not for their national values. Sodom and Gomorrah were punished by the Almighty. And today this sword of holy vengeance is in the hands of Russia!”
Chechen units entered Ukraine in three columns of armored vehicles on February 25, the day after the invasion. One of them was almost completely destroyed on the outskirts of Kyiv, the other two managed to reach the capital of Ukraine. When the Russian operation on Kyiv failed, Kadyrov decided to resort to mobilization in Chechnya. One of the Wall Street Journal’s interviewees, who fled Chechnya in August, said that not only the authorities but also religious leaders were involved in the recruitment. According to the report, they go to gyms and clubs offer up to 300,000 rubles for participation in the war. According to human rights activists, Chechen security forces brought the most vulnerable groups to the war: debtors, convicts or suspects of LGBT relations. A man arrested for criticizing Kadyrov said a police officer asked him if he wanted to fight in Ukraine. When he refused, the officer threatened him that he would go back to prison if he didn’t go to the nearest military base the next day.
Since this summer, the tasks of Chechen units in Ukraine have started to act as support forces and support the withdrawal of the Russian army, a representative of Ukraine’s military intelligence told WSJ. In general, their modus operandi is as follows: after the end of hostilities in the Russian-held territories, Kadyrov’s troops carry out “clean-up operations”: they look for Ukrainian spies and guerrillas in the occupied settlements. “They do the dirtiest work, they torture,” says Maria Davidson, head of the Swedish group protecting the rights of Chechen emigrants.
January 9, 2023 (change January 9, 2023 | 12:16)
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