While Chechen jihadists are renowned as being among the most dedicated and battle-hardened jihadists in the world, Russian President Vladimir Putin has started sending these notorious jihadists to Ukraine to fight against Ukrainian civilians and armed forces. This is likely a quid pro quo for Putin granting Ramzan Kadyrov essentially a free hand in Chechnya.
Meanwhile, a source in Kyiv told this correspondent that Moscow has branded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “Zionist agent” and asked the Chechen jihadists to “totally eliminate Zelensky, members of his family and enemies of Islam” in Ukraine.
The source said, Chechen jihadists are chanting “Allahu Akbar” slogan while attacking Ukrainian civilians and armed forces along side their Russian counterpart.
According to the Daily Mail report, a squad of Chechen special forces ‘hunters’ has been unleashed in Ukraine to detain or kill a set of specific Ukrainian officials.
Each soldier was reportedly given a special ‘deck of cards’ with Ukrainian officials’ photos and descriptions on them, a Moscow Telegram channel with links to the security establishment reported.
The list is of officials and security officers suspected of ‘crimes’ by the Russian Investigative Committee, the report added.
It came as Ukraine’s president admitted he is ‘target number one’ for Russian assassins in his capital, while his family is ‘the number two goal’ for Putin’s hitmen.
The Chechen squad is thought to be in a Ukrainian forest and was allegedly given an ‘order to kill’ if those on the wanted list could not be detained.
There is speculation those identified by Moscow as ‘Nazis’ would also be on the hunted list.
Putin previously said a key aim of invading Ukraine was to ‘deNazify’ the country.
State TV in Chechnya reported that Ramzan Kadyrov, 45, the republic’s leader and a close Putin ally, had visited his forces in Ukraine.
The Chechens are believed to be from the South battalion of the Federal Guard Service, based in Chechnya.
Kadyrov yesterday met with Viktor Zolotov, director of the Federal National Guard Service and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian National Guard Forces, another close Putin ally.
Volodymyr Zelensky, 44, addressed the nation on Thursday night, at the end of the first day of the Russian invasion of his country.
The former TV comedian insisted he had remained in Kyiv as he urged his fellow citizens to stay strong.
He said he was speaking from Kyiv but the elegance of the presidential palace was long gone: Zelensky, in his olive-green t-shirt, appeared to be speaking from a bunker.
‘I know that a lot of misinformation and rumors are being spread now,’ he said.
‘In particular, it is claimed that I have left Kyiv. I remain in the capital, I am staying with my people,’ he said.
Zelensky said his family also remained in the country – his wife Oleana, a 44-year-old architect and screenwriter, and their two children: daughter Aleksandra, 17, and son Kiril, nine.
‘My family is not a traitor, but a citizen of Ukraine,’ he said, adding that he would not reveal their location.
‘According to our information, the enemy marked me as the number one target. My family is the number two goal.
‘They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the Head of State.’
President Zelensky has also expressed his anger at Western rulers after his country was ‘left alone’ to face Russian troops as officials warn that Kyiv will be seized by this weekend.
He called his fallen compatriots ‘heroes’ after 137 were killed on the first day of fighting, and insisted he will stay until the bitter end.
He said: ‘They’re killing people and turning peaceful cities into military targets. It’s foul and will never be forgiven.
‘We have been left alone to defend our state. Who is ready to fight alongside us? I don’t see anyone.
‘Who is ready to give Ukraine a guarantee of NATO membership? Everyone is afraid.’
He said they believed Russian special forces were already in the capital.
‘We also have information that sabotage groups of the enemy have entered Kyiv,’ he said.
‘That’s why I am urging Kyivites: be careful, follow the rules of curfew. I remain in the government quarter together with all those who are necessary for the work of the central government.’
The Ukrainian capital is expected to be surrounded by Russian forces this weekend and the country’s resistance effectively crippled, US security officials fear.
