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Putin Crony’s Teen Sons Turn Up Armed in Ukraine—for Photo-Ops Far From Frontline

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said his sons would soon “breathe in gunpowder” on the battlefield, but so far they just seem to be standing around looking awkward.

Two weeks after Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov vowed to send his three underage sons to fight on the “most difficult” parts of the frontline in Ukraine, the three teens have turned up armed—for photo-ops far from the battlefield. The Putin crony, apparently hoping to show he’d kept good on his word to prove his devotion by sending his own kids as cannon fodder, shared thoroughly staged footage on his Telegram channel of his mini-mes wielding rifles in Mariupol on Monday. The footage was broadcast on Chechnya’s state-run TV channel, where Kadyrov’s daughter, Chechen Culture Minister Aishat Kadyrova, was shown meeting with local Russian puppet leaders. Though Kadyrov boasted on Telegram that his sons—16-year-old Akhmat, 15-year-old Eli, and 14-year-old Adam—had finally arrived to “breathe in gunpowder,” the footage showed them surrounded by heavily armed security in a city that is under Russian control far from actual fighting. After posing for photos for the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” press service, the teens awkwardly stood around as if they had no idea what they were meant to be doing.

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Allison QuinnNews Editor

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