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Kadyrov calls Yatsenyuk coward who could not fight in Chechnya

Russian Investigation Committee earlier said it had questions to Yatsenyuk who allegedly fought against Russian troops in Chechnya in the mid-1990s, however Kadyrov claims he has no such information

Ramzan Kadyrov Elena Afonina/TASS Archive

Ramzan Kadyrov

© Elena Afonina/TASS Archive

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Kremlin: It's premature to comment on chief investigator's accusations against Ukraine PM

GROZNY, September 10 /TASS/. Chechnya’s Head Ramzan Kadyrov said on Thursday he had no information that Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk had fought in the Chechen Republic in the 1990s.

Kadyrov does not consider Yatsenyuk to be a warrior, Kadyrov’s press service told TASS.

"I have no information that Yatsenyuk was in the Chechen Republic during the war. I never heard from anybody in the past that Yatsenyuk was in Chechnya. I have never met him personally. But what I know for sure is that he is a coward and is incapable of fighting against anybody," the press service quoted Kadyrov as saying.

"He is a real nerd. If he is a warrior who fought anywhere, then I do not understand anything in this world," the head of Chechnya added.

The Russian Investigation Committee said earlier this week that it had some questions to Arseniy Yatsenyuk who allegedly fought against Russian troops in Chechnya in the mid-1990s.

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In an interview with the Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily published on September 9, Alexander Bastrykin, the Investigation Committee’s head, said investigators had proof that Yatsenyuk had fought against Russian servicemen /in Chechnya/ in the mid-1990s along with members of the UNA -UNSO (Ukrainian National Assembly - Ukrainian National Self-Defense) movement first as a member of the Argo punitive battalion and later the Viking battalion under the command of Alexander Muzychko.

"According to investigators, Arseniy Yatsenyuk took part at least in two armed clashes in the Chechen capital of Grozny: on Minutka Square on December 31, 1994 and near hospital No.9 in February 1995. He also tortured and executed captivated Russian servicemen in the Oktyabrsky district of Grozny on January 7, 1995," Bastrykin said.

According to him, Yatsenyuk and other active UNA-UNSO members received the Honor of Nation award instituted by late Chechen rebel leader Dzhokhar Dudayev for destruction of Russian soldiers.

Bastrykin added that some of Yatsenyuk’s associates had described him as being smart and educated but at the same time cunning and slippery - a person who has sought power and publicity since young age.

According to Bastrykin, Yatsenyuk returned to Ukraine from Chechnya via Georgia together with a group of journalists early in 1995. He was seen attending UNA-UNSO congresses and meetings in Kiev in the following years.

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Arseniy Yatsenyuk Ramzan Kadyrov

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