Vladimir Putin should threaten to use nuclear weapons if the West puts mercenary fighters into Ukraine, one of his closest henchmen has demanded.
Warlord Ramzan Kadyrov - leader of Chechnya and a lieutenant-general in the Russian national guard - also called on Putin not to abandon his aim of seizing Kyiv despite the current pullback.
Outspoken hardliner Kadyrov, 45, claims to be personally involved in the war especially with Chechen forces around decimated Mariupol.
