DONETSK, March 28. /TASS/. The head of the Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, met in Mariupol with the head of the Chechnya Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, and they discussed plans for the further liberation of the city, Pushilin said on Monday.

"I have discussed with the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov in Mariupol the course of the operation to liberate the city," Pushilin said on Telegram. "I expressed great gratitude for the fact that fighters from the Chechnya Republic, shoulder to shoulder with our defenders, are expelling Nazi criminals from the land of Donbass."

"We have discussed plans for further cooperation, including after the end of hostilities," he went on to say.

The DPR head also said that he had awarded Kadyrov the Order of Friendship for his personal contribution to the liberation of Donbass.

On Monday, the Minister for National Policy, Foreign Relations, Press and Information of Chechnya, Akhmed Dudayev, told TASS that Kadyrov is in Mariupol, being there with the goal of supporting the morale of the fighters and to bring additional equipment.