Russian forces will drastically speed up their offensive in Ukraine following an unspecified change of tactics, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said Friday as the invasion entered its 100th day.
Kadyrov said Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had outlined “new tasks to improve further tactics” on the battlefield during their meeting in Moscow on Thursday.
“The measures will significantly increase the efficiency of offensive maneuvers, which will contribute to the faster conduct of special operations,” the head of Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Chechnya wrote on Telegram.
Kadyrov did not specify the changes that have been adopted.
The Defense Ministry did not confirm his claims in its daily briefing.
Kadyrov is a staunch Kremlin ally who has regularly voiced strong support for President Vladimir Putin’s three-month invasion of Ukraine and positioned himself as a hands-on commander of Chechen paramilitaries deployed to Ukrainian hotspots.
Russia shifted its focus toward eastern Ukraine after being repelled from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in the invasion’s first month. The fiercest fighting now centers around Severodonetsk, one of the last cities in the Lugansk region not under Russian control.
Kadyrov had opposed Russia’s retreat from northern parts of Ukraine, which left behind evidence of potential war crimes.
International NGOs accuse Kadyrov, a former rebel turned Kremlin loyalist, and his forces of serious human rights abuses in his tightly controlled region.
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