Kadyrov speaks of imminent end to war

Ramzan Kadyrov is known for his lies and contempt for humanity. In a livestream, the Chechen ruler predicts that Russia will soon win against Ukraine. He has an explanation for the fact that the war has lasted so long. It can hardly be surpassed in terms of cynicism.

The Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov has predicted that the war will end next summer. "Around June or July. If I had the power to decide, we would be finished in three months," Kadyrov said in a livestream, according to media reports.

He expressed optimism that Russia would achieve its war aims. He explained the delay by saying that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin had given the military the task of destroying the Ukrainian "cities as little as possible." Russia has been waging a brutal war of aggression against its neighboring country for more than 21 months, regularly attacking cities. In eastern Ukraine in particular, the Russian army has laid waste to numerous towns and villages.

Kadyrov also claimed in the stream that the Russian troops could have taken Kiev if there had not been an order to spare the civilian population. In reality, Russian soldiers murdered numerous civilians in the Kiev region - just as they did in other parts of Ukraine. More than 400 residents were killed in the Butsha massacre alone. In Irpin, another suburb of Kiev, the Russians killed between 200 and 300 civilians. The battle for Kiev lasted from the end of February to the beginning of April, after the Russian military had also attacked the Ukrainian capital with units stationed in neighboring Belarus. Heavy losses finally prompted the leadership in Moscow to retreat from Kiev.

Kadyrov: son should have killed defenceless man

In the stream, the Chechen leader repeatedly praised his 16-year-old son Adam Kadyrov for the brutal beating attack on a defenceless prisoner a few months ago. "It would have been good if he had killed him on the spot," said Kadyrov. "When I think of people who burn the Koran, I wish they would be punished," he added.

The video of the attack published by Kadyrov and the lack of prosecution of the 16-year-old caused horror in parts of Russian society. After the attack on the man, who had been arrested for publicly burning a Koran, the teenager was named a "Hero of Chechnya" and appointed head of his father's security service.

Kadyrov, who leads the Chechen Republic in an authoritarian manner and is accused of numerous human rights violations, including murder, is one of the hardliners in Russia's war of aggression. Chechen units are active in the war as part of the Russian National Guard. At the beginning of the year, Kadyrov predicted a Russian victory by the end of 2023.