Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov says he is in Ukraine

Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, has said he is in Ukraine alongside invading Russian forces.

Kadyrov, who is accused by international NGOs of serious human rights violations in the tightly controlled Caucasus republic, posted a video on Telegram of himself in military uniform studying plans around a table in a room with soldiers.

He said in a message that the video had been shot at Hostomel, an airfield near Kyiv captured by Russian forces in the first days of their offensive. The claim could not be independently verified.

At the start of the Russian offensive, images circulated on social networks showing a square in the Chechen capital, Grozny, filled with soldiers claimed to be on their way to Ukraine.