Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, told Telegram that Chechen forces fighting alongside the Russian army had taken control of the Mariupol municipality building in southern Ukraine, which has been besieged for weeks, and whose flag was also raised.
“The boys reported on the radio that they liberated the town hall in Mariupol and raised our flag on it,” Kadyrov wrote in the Russian business newspaper Vedomosti.
The Chechen leader, referring to Ukrainian government forces, added that “the surviving bandits did not want to risk and quit their jobs, where they were used to, and were caught fleeing.”
Kadyrov also said that more Chechen formations are currently moving from several directions in the city, as he put it, “to clean it of the filth of Azov.” Thus, Kadyrov referred to the Azov battalion, which was defending Mariupol on the shores of the Sea of Azov.
“God willing, we will clean up Mariupol soon,” he added.
Kadyrov also released a video recording of a phone conversation allegedly between Russian MP Adam Delimanov and “brave” Chechen fighters.
Mariupol has been surrounded by Russian forces for weeks. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, nearly one hundred thousand people were left without water, electricity and food in the city.
Opening image: MTI/AP/Maxar Technologies
