Russian President Vladimir Putin paid his first visit to Chechnya in 13 years on Tuesday, meeting with erratic Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and performing a surprise inspection of Chechen troops preparing to fight for his imperial war in Ukraine.
“As long as we have men like you, we are absolutely, absolutely invincible,” Putin told the fighters training at the Russian Special Forces University in Gudermes, Chechnya.
“It is one thing to shoot at a shooting range here, and another thing to put your life and health at risk. But you have an inner need to defend the Fatherland and the courage to make such a decision,” Putin told the Chechen troops.
Kadyrov said over 47,000 fighters have trained at the Russian Special Forces University. A substantial number of Chechens opposed to Kadyrov and Putin are also fighting — on behalf of Ukraine.
Putin’s ostensibly unscheduled and unannounced visit to Chechnya came at a moment when Russian forces have been embarrassed by a surprisingly successful Ukrainian invasion of the Kursk border region. Ukrainian forces have now held Russian soil for three weeks, marking the largest and longest invasion of Russia since World War II.
Business Insider speculated Putin chose this moment to visit Chechnya, whose bid for post-Soviet independence was ruthlessly crushed by Putin two decades ago, to send Ukraine a message that its independence will meet a similar fate.
Putin might also have felt he needed a morale-boosting photo op with his superfan Kadyrov, who has described himself as Putin’s eager “foot soldier.” Putin personally appointed Kadyrov to rule Chechnya in 2016.
Putin arrived by helicopter in Grozny, shook hands with Kadyrov, and then strolled to a limousine with his arm around the Chechen leader’s shoulders.
“Vladimir Vladimirovich despite the hard working day is full of energy and ready to visit several places in Chechnya,” Kadyrov excitedly wrote on Telegram.
The Moscow Times reported that Putin also visited North Ossetia on Tuesday, where he made an appearance at the Beslan school where 330 people were killed during a siege by Chechen rebels in 2004.
During his visit, Putin compared the vanquished Chechen rebels to the Ukrainian forces invading Kursk. He angrily accused the Ukrainians of “trying to destabilize” Russia with their attack.
“We will punish the criminals. There can be no doubt about that,” he promised.
