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A DRAMATIC giant fireball explosion today hit a special forces barracks in a Russian region controlled by one of Putin’s most feared henchmen.
A Ukrainian drone detonated in the air over an elite forces facility in Grozny, capital of Chechnya, an area run by local warlord Ramzan Kadyrov.
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Kadyrov, 48, known as The Don, wrote on Telegram after the attack: "The drone detonated in the air, damaged the roof and broke windows.
"Falling fragments triggered a small fire, which was quickly put out."
At least four people are believed to be injured, but some reports say the toll may have been higher.
The attack damaged the barracks of a police special forces regiment named after Kadyrov’s assassinated father, Akhmat, who previously ruled the region.
The same Russian war leader said last week that a drone hit the roof of a police facility, though it is unclear if the two attacks were on the same building.
Kadyrov blamed last night's attack on Ukraine and vowed revenge.
He said: “We will not let this stand!
“And for these four injured, we will take down 400 Ukrainian nationalists.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility from Ukraine, but Kyiv has previously attacked Chechnya.
In the past, Kadyrov has threatened to place Ukrainian prisoners of war on rooftops of strategic buildings as human shields to block attacks by Zelensky’s forces.
The warlord recently criticised two of Putin’s senior officials and has enemies in the regime, despite his stated loyalty to the Kremlin, and separately claimed a bounty has been put on his head.
A new investigation by Proekt, an independent media outlet, found that Kadyrov has tripled the size of his special squad since the start of the war.
Nine new Russian paramilitary units have been established since the start of the war, but no other regional leader has been allowed to maintain their own private army.
In the wake of the attack, Kadyrov said: “A reserve of 84,000 volunteers and fighters from the Chechen Republic is ready to move to the front lines at a moment’s notice."
“We are preserving our republic not to let some drug addicts, devils, or satanists impose their sick ideas.
During the 2023 coup attempted by once-loyal Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, Kadyrov’s forces - known as ‘Kadyrovtsy’ - were scrambled to back-up Putin.
There have been claims that if Putin died or lost power, Kadyrov could seek to use his forces to make landlocked Chechnya an independent state.
The thuggish Chechen ruler has packed the local government with his extended family and other loyalists.
A father of 15 from at least three wives, Kadyrov is sanctioned by the West for his human rights abuses as well as his support for Putin’s war.
Earlier this year there were reports of serious illness, but lately he has appeared in stronger.
In October, the roof of a military training centre Chechnya was set ablaze in what appeared to be the first Ukrainian drone attack on the area since the start of the war in February 2022.
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English (US) · 