Praise The Chechen Army, President Putin: As Long As We Have You, We Are Unbeaten

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Source: Kremlin)

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on Tuesday examined Chechen troops and volunteers preparing to fight Ukraine, the Kremlin said, on its first trip in 13 years to the Chechen Republic.

The previously unannounced trip to the predominantly Muslim republic part of Russia comes as Moscow struggles to expel Ukrainian troops from the Kursk region, two weeks after they broke through the border in Russia's biggest invasion since the Second World War.

"As long as we have people like you, we are truly, truly unbeaten," President Putin told troops at Russia's Special Forces University, training school in Gudermes, Chechnya, according to a transcript on the Kremlin website.

"Shooting in the shooting range here is one thing, and risking your life and health is another thing. However, you have an inner need to defend the country and the courage to make such decisions," said President Putin.

The foreign occupation of Russian soil has humiliated President Putin and his troops, even as Russian troops continue to advance gradually but firmly on the front lines in eastern Ukraine.

Kadyrov, who was sanctioned by the United States in 2020 and 2022 for alleged human rights abuses and mobilized Chechen troops to fight Ukraine, told President Putin at a separate meeting on Tuesday that Chechens had sent more than 47,000 troops since the start of the war against Ukraine, including about 19,000 volunteers.

It is known, Kadyrov himself often described himself as a "foot soldier" Putin.

When asked by a journalist whether Putin's "foot soldiers" like Kadyrov confirmed his belief, President Putin said "If I had more of these leg soldiers, I would be very happy, but even one foot soldier like that was very valuable," the RIA news agency reported.

Before heading to Chechnya, President Putin for the first time in at least 16 years visited Beslan City in North Ossetia. The expulsion of 2004 schools by militants there killed more than 330 people in the bloodiest incident in modern Russian history.

Among those killed were 136 children, President Putin said in a meeting in Beslan with the mothers of children killed in the attack.

"This tragedy will remain an unrecovered wound in the historical memory of all of Russia," President Putin said, according to a transcript published on the Kremlin website.

However, he also added, Russia continues to face enemies trying to destabilize the country.

"And just like we are fighting terrorists, today we have to fight those who commit crimes in the Kursk region, in Donbas," President Putin said, referring to a sudden Ukrainian attack on Russian territory and a wider Donbas region in southeastern Ukraine, which is partly controlled by Russian troops.

"We will punish the criminals. There is no doubt about this," he stressed.