Zelenskyy urges U.S. to target Chechen leader Kadyrov to pressure Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that the United States should increase pressure on Russia by pursuing an operation to remove Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, arguing that such a move would force President Vladimir Putin to reconsider Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Speaking to journalists, Zelenskyy pointed to the recent U.S. operation against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as evidence that Washington has the capability to influence Moscow if it chooses to do so.

“They have the tools, they know how to use them. When they really want to, they can act,” Zelenskyy said, adding that removing Kadyrov would make Putin “think twice” about continuing the offensive in Ukraine.

U.S. special forces captured Maduro and his wife in Caracas last Saturday, an operation that stunned Washington’s allies and drew condemnation from Russia, a key Venezuelan partner.

Kadyrov, who has ruled Russia’s Muslim-majority Chechnya region since 2007, is one of Putin’s most outspoken allies and has deployed thousands of Chechen fighters to support Russian forces in Ukraine.

Referring to the Maduro operation, Zelenskyy said: “They carried out an operation. The whole world can see the result. Let them carry out some kind of operation with Kadyrov.”

Kadyrov responded in a post on Telegram, accusing Zelenskyy of cowardice and mocking his remarks.

“Save face and don’t humiliate yourself,” Kadyrov wrote. “If you had even a shred of masculinity, you would understand how humiliating your words and requests sound.”

Hours after the U.S. operation against Maduro, Zelenskyy also joked that Russian President Vladimir Putin could be targeted next.

“If you can do that with dictators, then the United States knows what to do next,” he said during a weekend press conference in Kyiv, laughing as he spoke.

Ukraine, which has been fighting a full-scale Russian invasion for nearly four years, has repeatedly argued that its Western allies, including the United States, have not applied sufficient pressure on the Kremlin to bring the war to an end.

Kadyrov, who has ruled Chechnya with an iron grip for nearly two decades, has frequently called for harsher measures in Ukraine, including publicly raising the possibility of using nuclear weapons.