Chechen President Kadyrov speaks of battles with Ukrainian fighters in Belgorod region

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov spoke about battles in Russia's Belgorod region between Chechen and Russian forces with groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Kadyrov later edited his original post where he provided details of operations to cleanse the region of Ukrainian troops.

"The tactical direction is the urban-type settlement of Krasnaya Yaruga. Joint actions of the Buri group of the legendary Akhmat special forces of the Russian Ministry of Defense (…) and units of the Russian Aerospace Forces to annihilate positions of Ukrainian Nazis and their manpower,” Kadyrov's message said.

The politician also showed footage of a T-64 tank and aircraft attacking Ukrainian fortifications in forest plantations and wished the Russian military "good hunting.”

However, the message on Kadyrov's Telegram channel was later edited. The name of the village was deleted - it was only indicated that there were ongoing battles in the Belgorod direction of hostilities.

Russia's Belgorod region suffers from Ukrainian drone attacks most in 2024

According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the number of Ukraine's attacks on the Belgorod region of Russia in 2024 was the largest.

• Over the year, the Russian forces shot down as many as 7,345 Ukrainian drones over Russia.
• About a quarter of them — 1,896 — were shot down over Belgorod Oblast.
• Bryansk and Kursk regions come next with 1,206 and 1,170 drones respectively.

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Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician and current Head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated with the Chechen independence movement, through his father who was the separatist-appointed mufti of Chechnya. He is a colonel general in the Russian military. Kadyrov is the son of former Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov, who switched sides in the Second Chechen War by offering his service to Vladimir Putin's administration in Russia and became Chechen president in 2003. Akhmad Kadyrov was assassinated in May 2004. In February 2007, Ramzan Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as president, shortly after he had turned 30, which is the minimum age for the post. He was engaged in violent power struggles with Chechen commanders Sulim Yamadayev (d. 2009) and Said-Magomed Kakiyev for overall military authority, and with Alkhanov for political authority. Since November 2015, he has been a member of the Advisory Commission of the State Council of the Russian Federation.