Chechens Death Squads Sent to Ukraine on Behalf of Putin - Viral Reports

ALBAWABA - News reports that forces from the Chechen paramilitary have departed Grozny for the Ukraine to fight and/or capture government officials in Kiev it is being claimed.

News reports including those from the Daily Mail say these are being part of what is being described as "squad of Chechen special forces" and are 'hunters'" and they are being unleashed in Ukraine to detain or kill a set of specific Ukrainian officials. 

The London daily adds "each soldier was reportedly given a special 'deck of cards' with Ukrainian officials' photos and descriptions on them, a Moscow Telegram channel with links to the security establishment reported. 

Unverified videos of these squads are posted on the social media and suggest that there are already on foot in the forests of Ukraine looking for the officials. 

The Daily Mail reports that a State TV in Chechnya reported that Ramzan Kadyrov, 45, the republic's leader and a close Putin ally, had visited his forces in Ukraine.

It said the Chechens are believed to be from the South battalion of the Federal Guard Service, based in Chechnya and said Kadyrov met with Viktor Zolotov, director of the Federal National Guard Service and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian National Guard Forces, another close Putin ally. 

That report came to light when as Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky admitted he is 'target number one' for Russian assassins in his capital, while his family is 'the number two goal' for Putin's hitmen. 

The former TV comedian insisted he had remained in Kyiv as he urged his fellow citizens to stay strong. He said he was speaking from Kyiv but the elegance of the presidential palace was long gone: Zelensky, in his olive green t-shirt, appeared to be speaking from a bunker, the paper added.