Kadyrov reluctant to have Chechens join Russian army amid conflict with defense ministry
Ramzan Kadyrov urged Chechens to join the units under his control (Photo:grozny.tv)
Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov has warned people in the republic he controls that they should expect military summons letters – despite the fact that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin announced the completion of mobilization, RFE/RL’s project Kavkaz.Realii reported on Oct. 31.
The warlord said this at a meeting with a detachment of the Akhmat Russian Guard, which is controlled by him.
"Now the call-ups will begin, and if he (the soldier) is already enlisted in some regiment or battalion, he will not have to go to the (Russian) army, he will be among his own, Chechens,” Kadyrov said.
“Otherwise, you will be taken somewhere, to some division, brigade, and your relatives will not know where you are.”
Against the background of the dispute with the leadership of the Russian Defense Ministry, he thus decided to recruit as many Chechens as possible to his so-called “TikTok troops” so that they would not be taken to the Russian Armed Forces.
Kadyrov regularly blames the Russian military leadership for the failures in Ukraine, claiming that he would have coped with their task much better.
The Chechen units earned the derogatory title “TikTok troops” because they regularly post video of themselves on social media in situations that appear to be simulations of combat, rather than real combat.
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