Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of the Russian province of Chechnya, is calling Tuesday for troops to storm the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv hours after Russia claimed it was withdrawing forces there in hopes of brokering a peace deal.

    Speaking to about 10,000 troops in Chechnya’s regional capital of Grozny, Kadyrov, according to the Associated Press, said “we need to complete what we have started and shouldn’t stop.” 

    He said if Moscow had allowed his fighters to press the offensive, “I’m more than confident that we would have entered Kyiv and established order there.”

    Kadyrov has posted numerous videos on a messaging app allegedly featuring himself and Chechen fighters on the outskirts of Kyiv and in the besieged Sea of Azov port of Mariupol, but those videos couldn’t be independently verified.