Ukraine war: Chechen chief Kadyrov says Russian forces will take Kyiv, step up offensive on other cities
- Ramzan Kadyrov said Moscow would unleash an offensive not only on the besieged port of Mariupol, but also on Luhansk and Donetsk
- Meanwhile, the US said Ukraine will get the weapons it needs to beat back the Russians to stop them from taking more cities
“There will be an offensive … not only on Mariupol, but also on other places, cities and villages,” Kadyrov said in a video posted on his Telegram channel.
“Luhansk and Donetsk – we will fully liberate in the first place … and then take Kyiv and all other cities.”
“I assure you: not one step will be taken back,” Kadyrov said.
Nato plans permanent military presence on eastern border
Kadyrov has been repeatedly accused by the United States and European Union of rights abuses, which he denies.
Moscow fought two wars with separatists in Chechnya, a mainly Muslim region in southern Russia, after the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union. But it has since poured huge sums of money into the region to rebuild it and given Kadyrov a large measure of autonomy.
Missiles completely destroyed the airport in the city of Dnipro, said Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of the central Dnipropetrovsk region.
Russia’s defence ministry said high-precision missiles had destroyed the headquarters of Ukraine’s Dnipro battalion in the town of Zvonetsky.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports.
02:17
Kyiv residents try to resume ‘normal life’ as Russian troops withdraw
Since Russia invaded, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has appealed to Western powers to provide more defence help, and to punish Moscow with tougher sanctions, including embargoes on Russian energy exports.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC News:
“We’re going to get Ukraine the weapons it needs to beat back the Russians to stop them from taking more cities and towns.”
In an interview aired on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” Zelensky said he had confidence in his own armed forces but “unfortunately I don’t have the confidence that we will be receiving everything we need” from the US.
“They have to supply weapons to Ukraine as if they were defending themselves and their own people,” Zelensky added. “They need to understand this. If they don’t speed up, it will be very hard for us to hold on against this pressure.”
Zelensky said earlier on Twitter he had spoken on the phone with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about additional sanctions, as well as more defence and financial support for his country. Zelensky also discussed with Ukrainian officials Kyiv’s proposals for a new package of EU sanctions, his office said.
Russia’s invasion has forced about a quarter of Ukraine’s 44 million people from their homes, turned cities into rubble and killed or injured thousands.
The World Bank on Sunday forecast the war would cause Ukraine’s economic output to collapse by a staggering 45 per cent this year, with half of its businesses closed, grain exports mostly cut off by Russia’s naval blockade and destruction rendering economic activity impossible in many areas.
The bank forecast Russia’s GDP would contract by 11.2 per cent this year due to punishing Western sanctions.
