Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has claimed in a Telegram video that Russia plans to initiate more attacks on Ukrainian cities despite recently pulling back.
A report by Russian publication Pravda quoted Kadyrov as saying that the Russian invasion will continue with plans to be rolled out soon.
“We will completely liberate Luhansk and Donetsk in the first place,” he said.
“This is the task set by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, our dear President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin [and] we will take Kiev and all other cities afterwards.
“Many people wonder why [the troops] have been pulled back from Kiev, why Kiev is not going to be seized, why Russia is yielding to Ukraine.
“I assure you, not a single step will be taken back.”
Pravda contacted a representative for Vladimir Putin who advised that they contact the Russian Ministry of Defence. No further comment was provided on the matter by Russian military.
The Russian military have a large holding over eastern Ukraine but have recently pulled back from the capital Kyiv. US officials believe that the retreat into Belarus is to “refit and resupply”.
Chechnya is a Russian republic located in the countries south west near Georgia and Azerbaijan with their President Kadyrov having described himself as the “foot soldier” for Putin. He came to power in 2007 after his father and former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov was assassinated.
On February 24 Putin announced that he would carry out a “special military operation” in the Donbass republics at the request of Luhansk and Donetsk leaders however has since moved his operations further into Ukraine.
