The leader of the Russian autonomous republic of Chechnya expects Kremlin forces to capture Kyiv (Kiev) by the end of 2023 and wants to invade Poland once Ukraine is defeated.
Ramzan Kadyrov, who took part in a successful jihadist insurrection against Moscow in the mid-1990s but switched sides when foreign fighters instigated an invasion of the neighbouring Russian republic of Dagestan in 1999, is one of Vladimir Putin’s strongest allies, and strongly backs the war in Ukraine — although not, at times, the way it has been conducted.
Despite his misgivings about Russia’s military leadership, however, the strongman leader — whose official title in recent days became “father of the people” — has predicted victory in 2023, declaring that the “special operation will be over before the end of this year” in an interview quoted by the TASS news agency.
“European countries will admit they have been wrong, the West will fall to its knees, and, as usual, European countries will have to cooperate with the Russian Federation in all spheres,” the Russian state-owned outlet reported him as saying.
“There should not and will never be an alternative to that,” he added — although in fact he has suggested an alternative himself, namely carrying the war onwards into Poland.
“I have repeatedly stated that the fight against Satanism should continue throughout Europe and, first of all, on the territory of Poland,” Kadyrov said of the NATO and European Union member-state, which borders Ukraine, Russia-allied Belarus, and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, in comments on Telegram translated by Metro.
“What if, after the successful completion of the NMD (National Missile Defence), Russia begins to denazify and demilitarise the next country?” the Chechen suggested.
“After all, after Ukraine, Poland is on the map! I will not hide that I personally have such an intention,” he reiterated.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group of Russian private military contractors, many of them recently recruited from prisons, who have been fighting on the front lines in eastern Ukraine has been much less bullish than Kadyrov in terms of his timeline for success.
The mercenary boss has estimated that it will take 18 months to two years to take full control of the Donbas region or, if the Kremlin pursues more expansive goals, up to three years to secure all of Ukraine east of the Dnieper River.
Even this latter goal would be far less ambitious than what Kadryov expects to achieve in a much shorter timeframe, with the Checehn insisting Russian forces “will take Odessa (Odesa), Kharkov (Kharkiv), and Kiev (Kyiv)” by year’s end.
“This is where we are gradually heading, thanks to the work of all structures, divisions and nations who united around the call of our President,” he said.
‘Today we are demonstrating results which the NATO and EU states have not even imagined in their dreams. We will fight through, and get to Poland.”
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