Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s recent warnings to Ukraine, following a drone attack, hark back to a 2022 scheme to infiltrate Kyiv and target President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a former Ukrainian government official has revealed.
Kadyrov issued his latest warning after reports surfaced of a Ukrainian drone hitting a high-rise close to his residence in Grozny on November 5.
In response to the incident, the Chechen leader pledged retribution through a video message posted online, as reported by Reuters.
“These threats essentially amount to yet another assassination plot against Zelenskyy. The Chechens are genuinely intent on avenging this,” a former government insider shared with Fox News Digital.
Chechnya’s head, Ramzan Kadyrov, is seen smiling before the Russia-UAE discussions on December 6, 2023, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Getty Images)
“However, in Kyiv, there is less panic over this compared to the situation in 2022,” noted the former official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“Zelenskyy is now better protected, feels more powerful and is less fragile,” they said.
The recent Ukrainian strike, reported by Reuters, hit the 28-story Grozny-City tower that sits roughly 830 meters from Kadyrov’s home.
Ramzan Kadyrov is one of Vladimir Putin’s most aggressive enforcers. (Rob Welham/Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Kadyrov, who is loyal to Russia, later allegedly confirmed the attack in a Telegram post, stating there were no casualties, but he condemned the strike as making “no tactical sense.”
He also warned that retaliation was imminent.
“Starting tomorrow and in the course of the week, the Ukrainian fascists will be feeling a stern response,” he threatened.
Unlike Ukraine’s strike, he added, “we will not be making a cowardly strike on peaceful targets,” per Reuters.
Ukrainian attacks have hit sites in Chechnya before now, including a police barracks and a training academy. Chechen units were also deployed during Russia’s 2022 invasion and were among the Kremlin’s most loyal forces.
Russian and Chechen soldiers in a devastated Mariupol neighborhood close to the Azovstal frontline. (Maximilian Clarke/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
At the time of the 2022 invasion, the official said there was intense anxiety in Kyiv.
“At the beginning of the large-scale invasion in 2022, Chechens were sent to Kyiv to murder top politicians,” the former official said.
“This included Volodymyr Zelenskyy and top politicians from the government and security services and Parliament, and many other agencies.
“Zelenskyy and Yermak were very scared,” they claimed. “They were calling from the office, asking some people in the military and security service to secure the metro station in Kyiv.”
The source said one metro station in Kyiv was a potential infiltration route for the Chechens into Zelenskyy’s presidential bunker.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky gives a press conference in Kyiv on February 26, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Tetiana Dzhafarova/AFP via Getty Images)
At the time, the station in Kyiv that was deep underground and near the presidential bunker, was viewed as the most vulnerable entry route, the source said.
“They were afraid that Chechens would get to the bunker through this metro station, but in the end the Chechens were killed before they reached Kyiv.
“They tried to reach Kyiv, somehow downtown, somehow via the river, but it’s quite a complicated way to get there,” the former official said.
Meanwhile, with the Nov. 5. Grozny strike landing so close to his home, Kadyrov, already one of Putin’s most aggressive enforcers, is signaling a harsher stance as attacks reach inside Russian territory.
The Moscow Times reported that the drone struck a building that houses regional government offices, including the Chechen Security Council and agencies connected to tourism and religious affairs.
Despite the rhetoric, the former Ukrainian official claimed Zelenskyy is unfazed this time around.
“These days, Zelenskyy isn’t afraid of Kadyrov’s actions against him or the Ukrainian people. Zelenskyy is feeling very powerful right now,” they added.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Zelenskyy’s office for comment.
