Chechen Warlord Claims He Met With Troops Just Miles From Kyiv

The 45-year-old, self-described "foot soldier" for Vladimir Putin, Ramzan Kadyrov, is known for the cruelty of his forces.

When Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov recently said he was going to Ukraine, it made headlines and caused fears of brutality. But there's more than meets the eye. 

"If Kadyrov did set foot in Ukraine, it would have been for an hour or so just to do an Instagram posting," Bellingcat Executive Director Christo Grozev. "Our colleagues from several Ukrainian and Russian media were able to actually conduct a ruse on him by sending him an article for his approval. And he clicked on that, and we were able to get his IP, his internet protocol location, which showed that he was in Russia and not in Ukraine."

The 45-year-old, self-described "foot soldier" for Vladimir Putin, known for the cruelty of his forces, is an avid poster on social media. In the Chechen capital of Grozny, Kadyrov has a video production team editing footage from Ukraine. Some propaganda videos imply his Kadir-oat-see are a force to be reckoned with, despite major losses and desertions. Kadyrov is banking on a reputation of savagery.