Chechens Ready To Send 3,000 Troops To Ukraine, Ramzan Kadyrov: Equipped With Best Equipment And Modern Weapons

Chechen Troops in Donbass during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/Die

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said some 3,000 of his fighters were ready to fight in Ukraine, as part of a new unit of the Russian Ministry of Defense and Russian National Guard forces.

For Kadyrov, who often describes himself as President Vladimir Putin's "a soldier" and often criticizes Russia's performance in the conflict, the war in Ukraine is a stronghold against Western aggression.

"They (the fighters) are equipped with the best equipment and modern weapons," Kadyrov said via the Telegram messaging app.

"In addition, the fighters are very aggressive and very motivated to achieve results," he said.

Earlier, Kadyrov said in May, Chechnya, which is part of Russia's federal republic, had sent more than 26,000 fighters to Ukraine since the start of the war, including 12,000 volunteers and at that time 7,000 of them were active in fighting.

Kadyrov's claims are not independently verifiable and estimates of the number of Chechen fighters deployed to Ukraine vary.

There are also several Chechen armed formations fighting on the Ukrainian side, in a war that began with Russia's massive aggression in Ukraine 21 months ago.

In November last year, Kadyrov said a large group of former Russian Wagner mercenaries, who played an important role in some of Ukraine's fiercest fightings, before falling apart after a half-hearted uprising against Russia's Ministry of Defense, had also started joint training with special forces from Chechnya.