The Chechen special forces group “Akhmat” launched an offensive in the direction of the city of Marinka in Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday, CNN and Reuters reported, citing News.ro.

On Wednesday, the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said that the Chechen special forces are preparing for an offensive against the background of intensifying attacks on the Belgorod region bordering Russia.

• “Friends, Chechen units received a new order to redeploy forces. The territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic become their area of ​​responsibility,” Kadyrov wrote in Telegram.
• “According to the order, fighters of Chechen units must start active combat operations and liberate a number of settlements,” he said.

The town of Maryinka, now in ruins, has been on the front lines since the invasion began, and hand-to-hand fighting among the ruins continues almost daily. The Ukrainian military said that there are Chechen units at various points on the front line in the Donetsk region.

The Ukrainian city of Maryinka was completely destroyed by the fighting (Photo: Libkos / AP / Profimedia)

Kadyrov commands significant paramilitary forces that, although officially part of the Russian military, are personally loyal to him. During a visit to the Kremlin in March, the Chechen leader told Putin that his forces in Ukraine would help Russia “fight to the victorious end.”

Along with Wagner’s group of mercenaries led by Yevhen Prigozhin, the troops of the Russian Republic of Chechnya were one of the main driving forces behind Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine.

The commander of the Akhmat forces, Apti Alaudinov, said on Thursday that his forces had been moved to “another area” to prepare a counteroffensive, but did not specify where the troops were or where they were headed.

Unlike Prigozhin, who repeatedly attacked the Russian military leadership, the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has recently refrained from repeatedly criticizing the Ministry of Defense. Since then, members of the two groups have been openly feuding, and on Thursday one of Kadyrov’s close associates called Prigozhin, who has just withdrawn his troops from eastern Ukraine, a blogger who keeps shouting that he has problems.

• Read also: VIDEO Chechens tuned in to Yevhen Prigozhin: Kadyrov’s number two challenges him to an “eye” bet

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