Russia's Chechen-led forces seize control of Ukrainian border village, says Kadyrov

On a recent development, Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia's Chechnya region, announced on Sunday that Russian forces, with the leadership of a Chechen-based special forces unit, have taken control of a Ukrainian border village. The unit, known as Akhmat-Chechnya, played a pivotal role in this operation, according to Kadyrov. The village in question is Ryzhivka, located in the Sumy region of Ukraine, directly opposite to the Kursk region in southern Russia.

Kadyrov described the action as a "large-scale planned advance" and claimed that it resulted in "significant losses on the Ukrainian side, which was forced to retreat". However, Russia's Defence Ministry did not release any statement regarding this operation, and there has been no official response from Ukrainian military authorities. It is important to note that Reuters was unable to independently verify this report.

Previous Deployments

Earlier this month, the commander of the Akhmat unit had mentioned to Russia's TASS state news agency that their forces had been stationed in Russia's border Belgorod border region, situated to the east of the location where the recent capture took place.

In May, Kadyrov had declared that tens of thousands of his soldiers were ready to engage in combat in Ukraine to support Russia. He stated that a total of 43,500 troops had already participated in Moscow's conflict against Ukraine. Additionally, Ukraine's military had cautioned about the buildup of Russian forces around the Sumy region as a preparation for potential military action.