According to the Daily Mail, a team of Chechen special forces ‘hunters’ has been sent to Ukraine to detain or kill a number of Ukrainian officials.

According to a Moscow Telegram channel with links to the security establishment, each soldier has been given a special ‘deck of cards’ with photos and descriptions of Ukrainian officials on them.

According to the report, the list includes officials and security officers suspected of ‘crimes’ by the Russian Investigative Committee.

It came as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy admitted that he is the “number one target” for Russian assassins in Kiev, with his family being the “number two target” for Vladimir Putin’s hitmen.

According to the report, the Chechen squad is believed to be in a Ukrainian forest and has been given a ‘order to kill’ if those on the wanted list cannot be apprehended.

There is speculation that those identified as ‘Nazis’ by Moscow would also be on the hunted list.

Putin previously stated that one of the main goals of the invasion of Ukraine was to ‘deNazify’ the country.

Chechen state television reported that Ramzan Kadyrov, 45, the republic’s leader and a close Putin ally, had visited his forces in Ukraine, according to the Daily Mail.

The Chechens are thought to be from the Federal Guard Service’s South battalion, which is based in Chechnya.

On Thursday, Kadyrov met with another close Putin ally, Viktor Zolotov, Director of the Federal National Guard Service and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian National Guard Forces.

On Thursday night, at the end of the first day of Russia’s invasion of his country, Zelensky, 44, addressed the nation.

The former TV comedian insisted on remaining in Kiev, urging his fellow citizens to remain strong.

He claimed to be speaking from Kiev, but the elegance of the presidential palace had vanished: Zelensky, dressed in an olive green t-shirt, appeared to be speaking from a bunker, according to the report.

свернуть