Chechen fighters in Ukraine put together to wrest management of Mariupol and past | Ground Report

More than six weeks after the Russian siege started, Ukrainian troops are persevering with to place up a staunch resistance towards invading Russian forces amid the ruins of Mariupol, a strategic port metropolis that Vladimir Putin has his eye on.

With Mariupol proving to be a holdout territory, Putin is augmenting the may of the Russian navy with the addition of Chechen fighters. Reputed to be fierce warriors, Chechen forces despatched to Ukraine are but to play a major function. But which will quickly change, as India Today learnt throughout a go to to a high secret Chechen base camp.

These Chechen fighters, or Kadyrovites, hailing from the Chechen Republic led by pro-Putin Ramzan Kadyrov, have taken over a lodge constructing at an undisclosed location in Russian-occupied Melitopol in south-eastern Ukraine.

READ | Mariupol mayhem: Why Putin is so determined to seize this Ukrainian port metropolis

Commander Murad of the Chechen forces informed India Today that their most important motivation for coming to Ukraine was the “shared history” between Chechnya and Ukraine. The Chechens had suffered beneath a “terrorist regime”, and now one other one was in energy in Kyiv, he claimed.

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Murad was referring to Russia’s wars in Chechnya within the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Muslim-majority republic fought for its independence from Russia within the mid-Nineties, however was engulfed in a decade-long bloody battle when then Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin despatched troops in Chechnya after lethal bombings allegedly carried out by Chechen secessionists. This in the end culminated with the set up of Moscow-backed presidents within the restive province.

READ | Ukraine braces for fall of Mariupol to Russia

The Chechens have gone from combating the Russians, to now combating with the Russians. As Commander Murad mentioned, they take orders not solely from their chief Ramzan Kadyrov, but in addition from Putin. As if in testimony to this reality, their base camp on the Melitopol lodge has flags of the Chechen Republic and the Russian Federation hanging facet by facet.

Chechen troopers on the secret base mentioned they educated in a spot referred to as Hankala in Chechnya. They had been then despatched for additional coaching in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, earlier than coming into Ukraine. They are armed to the tooth and have agency conviction of their chief, Ramzan Kadyrov.

As for what they intend to do in Ukraine, Ramzan Kadyrov has given a good indication. In a video posted on his Telegram channel on April 11, the Chechen president declared that Russian forces will launch an offensive not solely on the besieged metropolis of Mariupol, but in addition on Kyiv and different Ukrainian cities.