Kadyrov disavows his statement on campaign on Kiev

The people of Ukraine should deal with the "treacherous actions" of President Zelensky, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, who has earlier expressed his readiness to annex Ukraine to Russia, has stated now, explaining that he had expressed his opinion on Ukraine as a citizen, not as a politician and not at the request of the federal centre.

By stating the need to "take Kiev," Kadyrov tried to win the Russian president's approval, but the desire of the head of Chechnya to influence the country's foreign policy looks ridiculous, Alexei Malashenko and Dmitry Oreshkin, political analysts, have noted. Kadyrov's demonstrative readiness to act as "Putin's infantryman" on the Ukrainian issue was sanctioned by the Kremlin, Ruslan Kutaev, a Caucasian expert, is sure.

Kadyrov made his public statement on the need to annex Ukraine to Russia on December 26. Later, he softened this statement, but noted that it was made on his own initiative, and "nobody had phoned him about this."

Kadyrov has also stressed that he is not a part of President Putin's inner circle.

Earlier, he repeatedly called himself "Putin's infantry soldier." Thus, in April 2015, he announced that, as an "infantry soldier of his Supreme Commander-in-Chief," he was subordinate to Vladimir Putin and was ready to leave his post if necessary. In June 2021, at a meeting with Putin, Kadyrov assured him of his readiness to carry out any of his orders.

Kadyrov has disavowed his statements, but it is hard to believe that he had made them on his own initiative, the user of the "Caucasian Knot" Vicente has noted.