Kadyrov expresses shock over Russian army's retreat near Kharkiv, threatens to take Odesa

According to him, the way the Russians "left" the occupied Ukrainian settlements "had its benefits".

Kadyrov admitted that Russian troops fled from Izyum, Kupyansk and Balakliya in Kharkiv Oblast. However, Kadyrov expressed confidence that the defeated Russian troops will be able to return and recapture Ukrainian cities, as well as continue the offensive in other areas.

Read also: Kadyrov reconsiders resigning as governor of Chechnya

"There are already our people there, guys specially trained for this work, up to 10,000 of our fighters are ready to set off, and in the near future we will reach Odesa," claimed the Chechen warlord, though there is no evidence that these alleged fighters exist.

He followed up by noting that Russian military failures led to their collapse on the Kharkiv front.

Read also: Russia transfers 1,300 Kadyrov’s troops to Kherson Oblast

"I am not a strategist, like the Ministry of Defense, but mistakes were made, I think they will draw conclusions...” Kadyrov stated.

“And if today or tomorrow changes are not made to the strategy of the ‘special military operation’, I will be forced to turn to the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, the leadership of the country to explain to them the situation that is really happening on the ground. It is very interesting, even ‘freaking awesome’, I would say. The fact that we left, gave away several towns, villages — this also has its advantage.”

Earlier, Kadyrov, despite his vaunted ‘Kadyrovtsi’ fighting cadre’s documented failures in Ukraine, said that he was going to "easily" take not only Kyiv, during the offensive on which his militants suffered a shameful defeat, but also "NATO states".

In early September, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched an active counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast. As of Sept. 9, Ukrainian defenders had liberated over 30 settlements in the region.

Read also: Ukrainian army 50 km away from Ukrainian border in Kharkiv Oblast, says commander-in-chief

Officially, the authorities confirmed the liberation of Balakliya and part of Kupyansk. There are also reports of the de-occupation of Izyum.

Overall, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, since the beginning of September, the Ukrainian military has already liberated about 2,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory.

The Russian Defense Ministry admitted the retreat of its army on the Kharkiv axis, claiming that it was “planned”, and that Russian military command had allegedly decided to regroup troops in the areas of Balakliya and Izyum in order to step up efforts on the Donetsk axis.

Read also: Russian Defense Ministry ‘forgets’ to report loss of Balakliya in Kharkiv Oblast

However, the large amount of prisoners of war, abandoned military equipment, and traffic jams at the Russian border suggest that the Russian Defense Ministry is lying.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine