A colonel close to Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov has been seriously wounded in a gun battle in Ukraine.
Lieutenant Colonel Mezhid Utsmigov was hit during a brutal battle just after Kadyrov used Russian President Vladimir Putin’s absence from Moscow to gain promises from Kremlin chiefs in Moscow that the war would proceed at a “faster pace”.
Colonel Utsmigov is deputy commander of a special forces regiment named after Kadyrov’s father and is close to Putin.
Kadyrov is a longtime ally of Vladimir Putin and has used his power to deploy troops to support the warmonger in his war in Ukraine.
Colonel Utsmigov and his forces were retreating from Ukrainian shelling in the Luhansk Region when he was hit in the leg and concussed, according to Ukrainian sources.
The soldier's defeat came soon after Kadyrov was boasting about winning a “faster pace” for the war following meetings in Moscow with Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu and FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov.
“We’ll make Russia ’s real patriots happy and may our enemies die,” he promised.
He continued: "The measures adopted will allow for increasing the efficacy of the offensive manoeuvres, which facilitates conducting the special operation at a faster pace."
Around 49 Russian colonels are known to have died in Ukraine during the war and the 11th General, Major-General Roman Kutuzov, died on Sunday.
Kutuzov was the chief of staff of the 29th Combined Arms Army and his vehicle was ambushed by Ukrainians in the Donbas on Sunday.
In the Donbas, fighting is heavier than before as forces fight in the contested town of Sieverodonetsk. The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Russian forces are continuing to push towards Sloviansk "as part of their attempted encirclement of Ukrainian forces."
The Russian forces in the area have mobilised from the reserve of Russian-led Separatist Forces of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic. Who, the MoD says, are "poorly equipped and trained, and lack heavy equipment in comparison to regular Russian units."
Kadyrov, appears to be rising in stature among hardliners who are seeking a more robust approach to defeating Ukraine, with the use of heavier weapons from Russia’s military arsenal.
He has claimed of been at the frontlines in Mariupol, accompanied by his rifle-toting 14-year-old son Adam.
Kadyrov has been accused of a string of human rights abuses and torture against his political opponents and gay activists. But many of his supporters say he has brought order to his troubled region in southern Russia.
He recently claimed that losing the "Battle for Donbas" would add to instability in Russia and could lead to a coup or further territorial loss.
