Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov described the Russians who do not want to participate in the war on Ukraine as "nothing but cowards".
Kadyrov, who is one of the most prominent allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that the reasons for refusing to fight, such as opposing the war or Russia's political leadership, are just justifications.
And he wrote on his account on Telegram Friday, in a speech to those who refuse military service: “You know that you are nothing but a coward, a traitor and a second-class human being.”
Last Wednesday, Putin announced a partial mobilization of the reserves, which prompted many Russian men of military age to flee the country through airports and land borders, according to media sources.
In all, 300,000 of the reserve forces were called up, according to Russian statistics.
Kadyrov himself confirmed Thursday that Chechnya would not participate in the mobilization, but said that many volunteer units from the Russian Republic had already gone to the front.
Two weeks ago, Kadyrov criticized Russia's loss of strategic areas in eastern Ukraine, pledging to restore all these areas that were recaptured by Ukrainian forces during their counter-offensive that has been going on for days.
Putin ordered an attack on neighboring Ukraine on February 24, and while Russian forces initially captured large parts of the territory, progress is now increasingly halted.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Chechen units have been participating in Russian military operations inside Ukraine.