Putin visits Chechnya first time in 13 years, hails Russia as ‘invincible’

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made an unscheduled trip to Chechnya after nearly 13 years, commending Russia as “utterly invincible" amid Ukraine's aggression on the country’s soil.

Putin arrived at Grozny airport in the local capital by helicopter on Tuesday and met Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on his first visit to the North Caucasus region since 2011.

The Russian president visited the Special Forces University in Chechnya and praised the trainees who volunteered for service before being deployed in Ukraine.

Putin inspected the military academy bearing his own name, observed some of the lessons and briefly spoke with the special forces commanders, instructors and volunteers training at the facility.

“It is my pleasure to meet you here,” Putin told the trainees. “The decision you made was difficult. It is one thing to shoot at a range, but another to put your life and limb at risk. But you feel the need to protect the Fatherland and the courage to make that call.”

The Russian leader underlined, “Those who make such a decision have already won. I want to congratulate you, to thank you for such a decision, and wish you luck with all of my heart. So long as we have men like you, we are absolutely and utterly invincible.”

Kadyrov, for his part, said he had trained more than 47,000 soldiers, including volunteers, since the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

“The next group of volunteers who’ve undergone training at the Special Forces University will be setting out for the special military operation zone in the coming days,” the head of Chechnya said.

Kadyrov also announced that the Chechen Republic has “tens of thousands” of reservists ready to fight the Ukrainians, with media reports falling short of specifying whether any of the forces will be sent to repel Kiev’s incursion into the Russian region of Kursk.

Putin later visited the grave of Kadyrov’s father, former Chechen leader Akhmat Kadyrov, a command post and a mosque in Grozny.

The Russian president had earlier on Tuesday censured Kiev's incursion into Kursk region, saying the Ukrainians were “trying to destabilize” the country. “We will punish the criminals. There can be no doubt about that."

Moscow warns ‘Neo-Nazi Kiev regime’ poses threat to all of Europe

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warns that by planning to attack nuclear facilities the “Kiev regime” poses a threat to all of Europe.

Thousands of Ukrainian forces on August 6 invaded neighboring Russia in a surprise attack on the western region.

Russian troops have been fighting the invading Ukrainian forces since, stopping their further advancement deeper into their country's territory.

Ukrainian forces' invasion of Kursk has been described as Kiev's biggest attack on Russian soil since the Ukraine war started in February 2022.

The West has loaded Ukrainian armed forces with an overwhelming supply of Western weapons and ammunition since Russia launched its military campaign in Donbas.

Despite the West's all-out support for Kiev, the former Soviet republic has failed to gain significant military objectives against Russia in the US-led Western countries' proxy war.

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