The Chechen armed forces, made up of regular units subordinated to the Russian Ministry of Defense and the National Guard, left this Saturday for the “zone of tension” controlled by the Wagner mercenary group, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadirov said.
“The fighters of the Ministry of Defense and the National Guard of the Chechen Republic (Rosgvardia) have already left for the zone of tension,” Kadirov stated on the Telegram social network, referring to the Rostov region.
The Chechen leader, an unconditional supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said his troops “will do everything they can to preserve the unity of Russia and defend the state”.
“The insurgency must be suppressed and if that requires drastic measures, we are ready,” he added.
Kadyrov joined the vote in support of Putin after the head of state addressed the nation in a speech broadcast on state television calling for Russian unity and calling the head of the Wagner group Yevgeny Prigozhin a traitor.
“All that is happening is a stab in the back and a real military insurrection. I have repeated many times that war is not the time to expose personal transgressions and resolve the differences in our rear,” he underlined.
The Chechen leader addressed Russian patriot fighters, urging them “not to get carried away by provocations”.
The head of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, today claimed the occupation of Rostov, a key city in southern Russia for the war in Ukraine, and called for an uprising against the Russian military command, which he accused of killing its fighters. to fall.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin described the paramilitary group’s action as an insurgency, saying it represented a “mortal threat” to the Russian state and a betrayal that guaranteed there would be no “civil war”.
Prigozhin had previously accused the Russian military of attacking his mercenary camps, causing “a very large number of casualties”, allegations denied by the Russian Defense Ministry.
Source: DN
