Chechen Leader’s Threats Follow Ukrainian Drone Strike Near Residence

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has issued new threats against Ukraine following a drone strike that hit a high-rise building near his home in Grozny on November 5, echoing earlier plots against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to a former Ukrainian government official.

The drone reportedly struck the 28-story Grozny-City tower, located approximately 830 meters from Kadyrov’s residence. Though the Chechen leader confirmed there were no casualties from the attack, he condemned it as making “no tactical sense” and promised swift retaliation.

“Starting tomorrow and in the course of the week, the Ukrainian fascists will be feeling a stern response,” Kadyrov warned in a Telegram post. Unlike Ukraine’s strike, he added, “we will not be making a cowardly strike on peaceful targets.”

A former Ukrainian government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Fox News Digital that while these new threats represent “just another assassination threat for Zelenskyy,” the situation differs markedly from 2022.

“The Chechens are really serious about revenge,” the official said. “But in Kyiv they are not panicking about this like they were in 2022. Zelenskyy is now better protected, feels more powerful and is less fragile.”

The official revealed that during the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Chechen forces were dispatched to Kyiv with specific assassination missions targeting Ukraine’s leadership.

“At the beginning of the large-scale invasion in 2022, Chechens were sent to Kyiv to murder top politicians,” the former official explained. “This included Volodymyr Zelenskyy and top politicians from the government and security services and Parliament, and many other agencies.”

According to the source, Ukrainian leaders were deeply concerned at the time, particularly about a specific Kyiv metro station that could have provided Chechen operatives access to the presidential bunker.

“Zelenskyy and Yermak were very scared. They were calling from the office, asking some people in the military and security service to secure the metro station in Kyiv,” the official claimed, referring to Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office.

The former official described how Ukrainian forces managed to neutralize that earlier threat: “They tried to reach Kyiv, somehow downtown, somehow via the river, but it’s quite a complicated way to get there. In the end, the Chechens were killed before they reached Kyiv.”

This recent drone strike in Grozny is not the first Ukrainian attack on Chechen soil. Previous operations have targeted a police barracks and a training academy in the region. According to The Moscow Times, the building hit in the November 5 strike houses regional government offices, including the Chechen Security Council and agencies connected to tourism and religious affairs.

Kadyrov, a staunch Putin ally known for his brutality and loyalty to Moscow, has long been a significant figure in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Chechen units were deployed during Russia’s 2022 invasion and have been among the Kremlin’s most reliable forces throughout the conflict, developing a reputation for extreme tactics.

Despite the renewed threats, the former Ukrainian official believes Zelenskyy remains unperturbed. “These days, Zelenskyy isn’t afraid of Kadyrov’s actions against him or the Ukrainian people. Zelenskyy is feeling very powerful right now,” they asserted.

The incident comes amid escalating cross-border attacks from both sides of the conflict. Ukraine has increasingly demonstrated its capability to strike targets deep within Russian territory, while Russia continues massive missile and drone barrages against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

As the war approaches its third year with no resolution in sight, these long-distance strikes represent a concerning expansion of the conflict’s geographic scope, raising the potential for further retaliatory measures from both sides.