Chechnya says Kadyrov is in Mariupol - sporting general's epaulettes from Putin

VALENTYNA ROMANENKO - MONDAY, 28 MARCH 2022, 18:12

Russian President Vladimir Putin has promoted Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to the military rank of Lieutenant General. Russian media report that Kadyrov is in Mariupol, which is besieged by Russian occupiers .

Source: Mohammed Daudov, head of the Chechen parliament, and Akhmed Dudayev, Chechnya's minister for national policy, foreign relations, press and information, as quoted by the Russian newspaper "RBC"

Details: Commenting on the awarding of the rank to Kadyrov, Daudov wrote on his social media site that "the Chechen leader's contribution to the victory over international terrorism in the Chechen Republic, and to the preservation of Russia's integrity cannot be overestimated."

Another video allegedly from Mariupol was posted on Kadyrov's Telegram channel on Monday.

"RBC" writes that the Chechen government confirmed to them that Kadyrov is in Mariupol, where, they say, "the principal outcome" is approaching.

The head of the Chechen government said that "in the next few days the city will be taken and cleared of nationalists and Nazis. And Kadyrov, according to Daudov, "came to Mariupol to talk, to raise morale, to provide additional technical equipment, and to adjust and refine the strategy for further actions in the next couple of days."

Background: Since the first days of the full-scale war, the Russian invaders have been levelling Mariupol with air raids. The invader keeps trying to take over the city, but is rebuffed by the Ukrainian resistance forces. 

• According to Russian Telegram channels on 13 March, Ramzan Kadyrov is in Ukraine; on 14 March, Kadyrov himself published a video, saying that it was taken in Hostomel near Kyiv, and on 15 March he even published a video from Chechnya.
• "Ukrainska Pravda" has confirmation by telephone from the Chechen leader that Kadyrov was not in Ukraine that week.
• On 27 March, Kadyrov showed a video of Chechen involvement in the siege of Mariupol, featuring Ruslan Geremeyev, who is believed to have masterminded the murder of opposition Russian politician Boris Nemtsov.