Chechen Boss Backs Shooting Russian Troops

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Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has authorised his officers to "shoot to kill" Russian federal ‎troops if they operate on the territory without consent and warned "we have to be reckoned with".

The comments have deepened concerns about the level of forces Mr Kadyrov has been building up, and a potential rift with federal security services.

‎Five Chechen men are being held on suspicion of Russian politician Boris Nemtsov's murder, including a former deputy commander of one of Mr Kadyrov's elite units.

He has denied any involvement with the crime which took place in Moscow in February, but he praised the main suspect Zaur Dadayev as a "true Russian patriot".

In the months before his death, Mr Nemtsov warned about the Chechen leader's heavily-armed militia after a video showing him rallying the so-called "Kadyrovtsy" in Grozny.

"I cannot understand what Putin expects when arming 20,000 Kadyrovtsy gathered today in the stadium in Grozny," Mr Nemtsov wrote on his Facebook page.

"The country is entering a crisis. There is not enough money for anything, including the support of the regions.

"And the unspoken contract between Putin and Kadyrov - money in exchange for loyalty ends."

A former rebel fighter, Mr Kadyrov switched sides with his father to fight alongside Russian forces in the second Chechen war.