Convoy or caravan, there is a “combat” pause in the long line of vehicles outside Kyiv while attacks are focused on Kharkiv. Expect rubber ducks or gooses to be cooked, as the regular Ukrainian army has not yet been neutralized. The Russian army lost 5,710 killed, wounded, including 198 tanks, 29 helicopters.
Unlike the Spruce Goose, the then world’s largest plane which only flew once, the current largest plane, the AN-225 Cossack, was damaged in an air assault by the same group tasked to assassinate Ukraine president Zelensky. There’s now more details on the group that was sent, and the reality that its Chechen commander was also killed as Ukrainian counterattacks recovered one of the airfields from Russian invaders. So much for the Russian messaging of using Chechen troops as proxies for barbarity in Ukraine
The Kadyrovites are often accused of working as a death squad against enemies of Chechnya Head, Ramzan Kadyrov.
Kadyrovites, thousands of personally devoted armed men (estimated at around 5,000), including many former rebels from the First and Second Chechen Wars, have been accused of serious human rights abuses. Human rights activists working in Chechnya have said the group has been involved in kidnapping, torture and murder to cement Kadyrov's rule; reportedly, this is the group now most feared by Chechnya’s civilian population.[1]
military-history.fandom.com/...
Why it matters: Zelensky has said since the start of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine that he would be a prime target for assassination. Last Thursday, he warned that Russian "sabotage groups" had entered Kyiv and were hunting for him and his family.
The big picture: According to the Telegram message, Danilov said that a unit of elite Chechen special forces, known as Kadyrovites, had been behind the plot and had subsequently been "eliminated."
- "We are well aware of the special operation that was to take place directly by the Kadyrovites to eliminate our president," Danilov said, per the post.
- Ukrainian authorities had been tipped off about the plot by members of Russia's Federal Security Service who do not support the war, he added.
- Danilov elaborated that the Kadyrovite group had been divided into two, with one being destroyed in (G)Hostomel and the other "under fire."
www.axios.com/…
The Kyiv Independent reported the destruction of a Chechen column of 56 tanks by Ukrainian missiles near Hostomel on 27 February.[33] The missile attack had been delayed because the Kadyrovtsy had been hiding behind civilian infrastructure.[35]
en.wikipedia.org/...
On 24 February 2022, the first day of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the airport was attacked and seized by the Russian military. On the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said "The enemy paratroopers in Hostomel have been blocked, and troops have received an order to destroy them".[2] Later in the day, between 8-10 PM local time (UTC+2) reports surfaced that the airport had been retaken. That night, a Ukrainian official named Aleksey Arestovich announced they had in fact retaken the airport and the units of the Russian Airborne Forces (VDV) have been reportedly "destroyed",[3][4] but this has been denied by the Russian military.[5] The An-225 based at the airport was destroyed in its hangar on 24 February during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[6]
en.wikipedia.org/...
The prospects of the long-term occupation with associated long-term insurgency - "Iraq all over again".
Ukrainian MP, Kira Rudik, has told ITV News that she will bear arms and fight for her country.
Rudik is the leader of Ukraine's Voice Party, the opposition to Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party which is currently in power.
The MP joined Ukraine's political spectrum in 2019, championing the right for the country to be a state for the people, peace and security.
Once a critic of Zelenskyy's politics, Rudik says she now firmly stands behind him as he is doing 'what a president should do'.
She spurred international reaction overnight on Friday, after posting a picture of herself holding a Kalashnikov rifle on Twitter.
www.itv.com/...
Boris had his ass kicked: