Putin brings in Prada-wearing war lord

Vladimir Putin has had no choice but to bring in the big guns in Russia’s invasion against Ukraine: Prada-wearing hardman Ramzan Kadyrov.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Prada-wearing Chechen war lord has been bought in to lead the invasion of Ukraine.

Hardman Ramzan Kadyrov who is notoriously known for his methods of medieval torture has been appointed Lieutenant-General of Russia’s armed forces, The Sunreports.

Putin has had no choice but to bring in Prada-wearing hardman, Ramzan Kadyrov. Picture: The Sun

In the first days of the invasion, the former separatist rebel gave a speech urging Volodymyr Zelensky to ask the Russian tyrant for forgiveness.

During his address, he was pictured wearing military fatigues and a pair of $A2097 Prada Monolith boots.

Ramzan Kadyrov was photographed wearing military fatigues and a pair of $2097 Prada Monolith boots during his address. Picture: Prada via The Sun

He has now headed over to the besieged city of Mariupol to oversee the invasion, according to local media.

He reportedly met with the commander of the 8th Army, General Andrey Mordvichev. The fighting in Mariupol intensifies with the mayor calling for a “complete evacuation” of the city.

Vadym Boichenko told CNN: “Not everything is in our power.

“Unfortunately, we are in the hands of the occupiers today.”

It is estimated that up to 90 per cent of Mariupol – home to 400,000 before the war – has been destroyed or damaged after a month of heavy shelling, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Up to 90 per cent of Mariupol has been destroyed or damaged after a month of heavy shelling, according to official Ukrianian estimates. Picture: Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Nearly 5000 people have been killed in the city since Russian forces laid siege to it, a spokesperson for the city mayor said on Monday.

At least 300 civilians are said to have died after Russian troops bombed a theatre in the city, where 1200 terrified people were sheltering.

Mariupol is being flattened by a squadron of 25 Russian bombers flying sorties over the city every day.

About 5000 people have been killed in Mariupol since Russian forces invaded it. Picture: Reuters/Alexander Ermochenko

Around 14,000 elite Russian troops surround the city, with many of the 400,000 residents – trapped without power and running water – drinking from puddles to survive.

Bodies litter the streets, while others have been buried in mass graves because the ceaseless bombardment makes it impossible to hold funerals.

Russian troops also reduced a school to rubble in the city, where around 400 civilians were sheltering when the building was hit by thermobaric TOS-1A rockets, which can melt human organs.

Kadyrov said on Telegram at the beginning of the invasion that he was near Kyiv alongside his soldiers.

A Ukrainian serviceman walks next to a crater caused by a Russian missile strike in a village on the frontline of the northern part of Kyiv. Picture: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP

His post came after Grozny TV, a Chechen state media outlet controlled by Kadyrov, shared a video of him in a room with his soldiers.

In response, he posted: “Your intelligence is lame … in the video we are in Hostomel.

“The other day we were about 20km away from you, Kyiv Nazis, and at the moment even closer, and guess how close we got?” he wrote.

Ukrainian soldiers patrol in a village on the frontline of the northern part of Kyiv. Picture: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP

Kadyrov, the head of the Russian republic Chechnya fought against the Russians in the First Chechen War, only to change sides and join Moscow in the second conflict in 1999.

Human rights groups say he personally oversees the torture of political opponents in secret dungeons and runs death squads known as “Kadyrovites.”

They have also accused security forces controlled by Kadyrov of resorting to disappearances, torture, extrajudicial executions, and the collective punishment of suspects’ extended families.

Kadyrov’s security forces have also been directly or indirectly linked to a string of murders of political rivals, human rights activists, or troublesome journalists.

The Head of the Chechen Republic, known as “Putin’s attack dog” has been one of his most prominent allies.

Ramzan Kadyrov has been nicknamed ‘Putin’s attack dog’. Picture: The Sun

A few days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he posted a statement on his Telegram account urging the Russian leader to “finish this one off once and for all”.

He said: “Give our fighters the chance to use all possible – and impossible – force to finish this off once and for all.

“Comrade President, comrade Supreme Commander in Chief, I have told you more than once that I am your infantryman.

“I am ready to give my life for you. But I cannot bear to see how our fighters for the defence ministry, National Guard and other structures are dying.

“I appeal to you to close your eyes to everything, and to give the order to put an end to it all in one or two days. Only that will save our state and people.”

A few minutes later he returned with another post: “It is me, Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov, chief, hero of Russia, general and Putin’s infantryman. Fighting spirit, iron will. Only forward.”

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Putin brings in Prada-wearing war lord