Notorious 'warlord' Ramzan Kadyrov took his 14-year-old son to war as he led Russia's attack on Mariupol.
The boy named Adam - one of Kadyrov's 12 children - was seen on footage of the feared ruler, a close ally of Vladimir Putin in the ravaged Ukrainian city.
Kadyrov said he wanted him “to learn first hand about the successes and needs of our comrades-in-arms”, and also made clear he disagrees with Russia moves to lessen the military pressure on Kyiv, instating vowing to lead an invasion of the capital.
Kadyrow was promoted to the rank of Lt-General in the Russian national guard and claimed that he had been briefed by Andrey Mordvichev, one of the senior commanders that the Ukrainians claimed to have killed, the country's military claimed said on Saturday, March 19.
On footage taken before this, Kadyrov was seen introducing the boy to the Russian army general, saying: "Here is my Adam”.
Mordvichev replies: "Hi, well done!"
Kadyrov tells him: "Adam is 13.”
Records of the boy’s age show him to be 14 and the minimum age for soldiers to go to war in Russia is 18.
In one sequence the child, dressed in military uniform, is shown with his father visiting the hospital bedside Kadryrov’s henchman commander Ruslan Geremeyev.
Geremeyev is a suspect in the murder of Russian liberal politician Boris Nemtsov, a leading Putin foe and former deputy prime minister, gunned down close to the Kremlin in 2015.
Even the Russian Federal Security Service, once headed by Putin, has been unable to locate and quiz Geremeyev over the political assassination, say reports.
Geremeyev sustained relatively minor injuries in fighting Ukrainian defenders, according to Chechen TV.
Kadyrov - accused of using medieval torture on his enemies in Chechnya - has been called “the son Putin never had” for his devout loyalty to the Kremlin leader.
Adam was earlier at the centre of controversy over his expensive watch collection - including a Richard Mille original reported to cost more than £263,000.
“I met with the commander of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army, Lieutenant General of the Russian Armed Forces Andrey Mordvichev,” said Kadyrov.
“ [Mordvichev] reported on the significant successes of the fighters in critical areas and mentioned the approximate dates for the capture of Mariupol by the Russian army.”
As well as his son Adam, other Kadyrov relatives are in Ukraine in his entourage, several of them ministers in his government in the oil rich region in the TransCaucasus.
"A special military operation in Mariupol to cleanse the city of Bandera [Ukrainian nationalists], Nazis and rabid shaitans without family or tribe is proceeding in accordance with the developed plan.”
He vowed to fully bring Mariupol to heel before seeking to grab the Ukrainian capital.
“We will honourably carry out the order of our Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Russian President Vladimir Putin,” he said.
“He entrusted us with one of the most important and difficult areas, and we will justify his trust 100 percent.
“Very soon we will complete the assigned tasks in Mariupol and report to the President of the Russian Federation on our readiness to take Kyiv.”
In Chechnya, Kadyrov, 45, is accused of human rights abuses and torture against his political opponents and gay activists.
It was unclear how Geremeyev was wounded.
Earlier Kadyrov had posted: "The most difficult section in Mariupol was assigned to him, and the commander coped with the task brilliantly.
“In the same way, he always showed himself during the Chechen campaign in battles with shaitans - he was the first to ask for battle and perform the most difficult task.
“This time too he justified his name as an experienced and fearless commander.”
