Defense Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has published a report on the presence of paramilitary servicemen from the Chechen republic in Ukraine. The intelligence has identified more than 2,500 so-called Kadyrovites – soldiers of the paramilitary organization under the protectorate of Ramzan Kadyrov, Head of the Chechen Republic. The data was published in open sources.
According to the intel, Kadyrovites began to enter the territory of Ukraine in the first days of the large-scale military invasion, launched by russia on February 24. The main task of the combatants, headed by Kadyrov was to intimidate Ukrainians and start their full-fledged genocide. They came in the second echelon of the offensive, carried out searches in the homes, abused hostages and civilians, looted and robbed.
Read more: Kyiv in 72 Hours: Intel Mistake That Cost Too Much For Ukraine
After the russian troops suffered the first heavy losses, the Kadyrovites were ordered to stop the retreating occupiers and demonstratively shoot those who refused to continue to partake in hostilities.
"Shamefully repelled from Kyiv and Chernihiv by Ukrainian soldiers", the Kadyrov's mercenaries redeployed to the Luhansk and Mariupol directions of russian offensive. where they continued to loot and make videos for social media instead of actual fighting. The report says, about 100 Kadyrovites out of 2,500 were killed in Ukraine, roughly 300 were wounded and more than 60 fled from Ukraine.
As for the role Kadyrovites play in today's war between Ukraine and russia, there is a notable statement from a Ukrainian blogger Volodymyr Zolkin who has become famous for his interviews with captive russians. Zolkin, who made hundreds of voluntary talks with russian prisoners of war, claimed that russia is more yielding when it comes to captive Kadyrovites.
The blogger told on camera that russian command always immediately requests for an exchange of every Kadyrovite serviceman when it gets captivated by Ukrainian military. The commanders even agree to give any of the Ukrainian captives to take a Kadyrov's mercenary back. Such an approach hasn't been noted towards any other russian servicemen. Zolkin commented on this, talking to the Ukrainian military:
"If you take a Kadyrovite captive, it's a 'jackpot'. It is an immediate guarantee that we [the Ukrainian side] will be handed over any of our people. Immediate guarantee".
On the other hand, he noted, when it comes to a non-Kadyrovite russian soldier, the talks on exchange become more difficult as the commanders use various pretexts to not take their troops back.
As Defense Express earlier reported, russia is in need of reinforcements due to its heavy losses in the war it started against Ukraine. The war hasn't gone the way everyone expected with Ukrainian defenders being underestimated by both russia and even western countries. Find the latest news on the Ukraine-russia War in our daily news feed:
Read more: Day 81st of War Between Ukraine and Russian Federation (Live Updates)
