A general and ally of Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman leader of Russia’s Chechnya region, has shared his forecast for how much longer the country’s war with Ukraine would go on.....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
“Personally, I think at least two to three months,” Apti Alaudinov, who leads the Chechen Akhmat Regiment, told a reporter with China’s Phoenix Television in the embattled oblast of Kursk in an interview published on Tuesday.
Since launching a surprise counteroffensive into the western Russian region on August 6, Ukrainian forces have captured dozens of settlements and over 400 square miles of territory, prompting Russia to evacuate some 200,000 people from Kursk and the neighboring region of Belgorod.
The invasion is the largest of Russia since World War II, with Kyiv claiming it has seized control of more foreign soil in Kursk than Russia has since its February 2022 invasion.Newsweekhas yet to verify this claim.
Alaudinov struck a confident tone in the interview. Russian forces would eventually “encircle and suppress these terrorists, not just on the Kursk front but within the entire special military operations area,” he said, using the language Russia uses to describe its invasion of Ukraine.
The commander added that his troops have all proven “their fighting strength,” saying: “We will only move forward and never retreat.” He added that his troops are “in a good assault position” and that “many death squads” and “a lot of Ukrainian equipment” have been destroyed.
Alaudinov added that the Russian line is stretched thin and Ukrainian forces have taken advantage of weak points, gotten behind the line and captured villages.
Alaudinov said there were only a few Chechen reconnaissance units in the areas, and that these were holding onto the positions. He denied earlier reports that Russian troops had cut and run in the face of Kyiv’s advance, but he said some had been captured.
The Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministries did not immediately respond to written requests for comment.
In June, Alaudinov told Russian state media that the war would be finished by the end of 2024.
The video was published as Russian President Vladimir Putin made an unscheduled trip to Chechnya, his first to the majority Muslim region since 2011.
During his visit, Putin met with Kadyrov and delivered rousing remarks at a Chechen special forces academy, where he reportedly said Russia was “invincible” with the likes of them in its ranks.
The U.S. State Department sanctioned Kadyrov in 2020 over his role in “numerous gross violations of human rights” in Chechnya…CONTINUE READING>>
