Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s threats against Ukraine following a drone strike echo a 2022 plot to infiltrate Kyiv and target President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a former Ukrainian government official has said.

The leader’s latest threat came after a Ukrainian drone reportedly struck a high-rise building near Kadyrov’s home in Grozny on Nov. 5.

The strike prompted the Chechen strongman to vow retaliation in an online video post, according to Reuters.

“This new threat would just be another assassination threat for Zelenskyy. The Chechens are really serious about revenge,” a former government official told Fox News Digital.

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“But in Kyiv they are not panicking about this like they were in 2022,” the former official said under condition of anonymity.

“Zelenskyy is now better protected, feels more powerful and is less fragile,” they said.

The recent Ukrainian strike, reported by Reuters, hit the 28-story Grozny-City tower that sits roughly 830 meters from Kadyrov’s home.

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Kadyrov, who is loyal to Russia, later allegedly confirmed the attack in a Telegram post, stating there were no casualties, but he condemned the strike as making “no tactical sense.” 

He also warned that retaliation was imminent.

“Starting tomorrow and in the course of the week, the Ukrainian fascists will be feeling a stern response,” he threatened.

Unlike Ukraine’s strike, he added, “we will not be making a cowardly strike on peaceful targets,” per Reuters.

Ukrainian attacks have hit sites in Chechnya before now, including a police barracks and a training academy. Chechen units were also deployed during Russia’s 2022 invasion and were among the Kremlin’s most loyal forces.

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At the time of the 2022 invasion, the official said there was intense anxiety in Kyiv.

“At the beginning of the large-scale invasion in 2022, Chechens were sent to Kyiv to murder top politicians,” the former official said.

“This included Volodymyr Zelenskyy and top politicians from the government and security services and Parliament, and many other agencies.

“Zelenskyy and Yermak were very scared,” they claimed. “They were calling from the office, asking some people in the military and security service to secure the metro station in Kyiv.”

The source said one metro station in Kyiv was a potential infiltration route for the Chechens into Zelenskyy’s presidential bunker.

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At the time, the station in Kyiv that was deep underground and near the presidential bunker, was viewed as the most vulnerable entry route, the source said.

“They were afraid that Chechens would get to the bunker through this metro station, but in the end the Chechens were killed before they reached Kyiv.

“They tried to reach Kyiv, somehow downtown, somehow via the river, but it’s quite a complicated way to get there,” the former official said.

Meanwhile, with the Nov. 5. Grozny strike landing so close to his home, Kadyrov, already one of Putin’s most aggressive enforcers, is signaling a harsher stance as attacks reach inside Russian territory.

The Moscow Times reported that the drone struck a building that houses regional government offices, including the Chechen Security Council and agencies connected to tourism and religious affairs.

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Despite the rhetoric, the former Ukrainian official claimed Zelenskyy is unfazed this time around.

“These days, Zelenskyy isn’t afraid of Kadyrov’s actions against him or the Ukrainian people. Zelenskyy is feeling very powerful right now,” they added.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Zelenskyy’s office for comment.

As Israel and Hamas prepare to move towards phase two of a United States-led blueprint to end Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, disagreements loom over the as-yet undefined role of an international stabilisation force in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said on Sunday that the US draft required “a lot of clarifications”. While the group was ready to discuss “freezing or storing” weapons during the ongoing truce, he said it would not accept that an international stabilisation force take charge of disarmament.

“We are welcoming a [United Nations] force to be near the borders, supervising the ceasefire agreement, reporting about violations, preventing any kind of escalations,” he said, adding that Hamas would not accept the force having “any kind of mandates” on Palestinian territory.

His comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier in the day that he would meet with Donald Trump to discuss entering a new phase of the US president’s plan at the end of the month. The focus of the meeting, he said, would be on ending Hamas governance in Gaza and ensuring it fulfilled its “commitment” to the plan, which calls for demilitarisation of the enclave.

“We have a second phase, no less daunting, and that is to achieve the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarisation of Gaza,” Netanyahu said during a news conference with visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

It was not clear whether Naim’s comments on the group freezing or storing arms would satisfy Israel’s demands for full disarmament. The Hamas official said the group retained its “right to resist”, adding that laying down arms could happen as part of a process leading to a Palestinian state, with a potential long-term truce lasting five to 10 years.

The US-drafted plan for Gaza leaves the door open to Palestinian independence, but Netanyahu has long rejected this, asserting that creating a Palestinian state would reward Hamas.

Vague plan

Trump’s 20-point plan offers a general way forward on such plans as the establishment of the stabilisation force and the formation of a technocratic Palestinian government operating under an international “board of peace”, but does not offer concrete details or timelines.

US officials have said they expect “boots on the ground” early next year, but while countries like Indonesia have agreed to contribute troops, there is no roadmap for setting up the force, and its exact makeup, command structure and responsibilities have not been defined.

Netanyahu appeared to recognise the plan’s vagueness. “What will be the timeline? What are the forces that are coming in? Will we have international forces? If not, what are the alternatives? These are all topics that are being discussed,” he said on Sunday.

The Israeli prime minister said that phase two of the plan, which will be set in motion once Hamas returns the last Israeli captive, a policeman killed in the October 7 attack on southern Israel, would be “more difficult”.

Stage one of the plan has already proven challenging, with Israel continuing to bomb Gaza throughout the ceasefire, killing more than 370 Palestinians, according to health officials. Meanwhile, it has accused Hamas of dragging out captive returns.

Israeli army says yellow line ‘new border’

The plan’s initial steps saw Israeli forces withdraw to positions behind a so-called yellow line in Gaza, though the Israeli military remains in control of 53 percent of the territory. The Israeli military said on Sunday that the line of demarcation was a “new border”.

“We have operational control over extensive parts of the Gaza Strip, and we will remain on those defence lines,” said Israeli military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir. “The yellow line is a new border line, serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity.”

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani warned at the Doha Forum on Saturday that the truce was at a “critical moment” and could unravel without rapid movement towards a permanent deal.

He said a true ceasefire “cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal” of Israeli forces, alongside restored stability and freedom of movement for Palestinians, which has so far not transpired under phase one of the plan. He did not allude to the yellow line in his comments.

Amid growing momentum for a move to phase two of the peace plan, Israeli and Qatari officials met with US counterparts in an effort to rebuild relations after Israel’s air strike on Doha in September, Axios reported, citing unnamed sources.

COTONOU, Dec 7 (Reuters) – Benin’s government said on Sunday its armed forces had foiled a coup attempt after a group of soldiers in the West African nation claimed on national television to have seized power.

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At least eight soldiers, several holding weapons, went on state television on Sunday morning to announce that a military committee led by Colonel Tigri Pascal had taken over and was dissolving national institutions, suspending the constitution and closing air, land and maritime borders.

“The army solemnly commits to give the Beninese people the hope of a truly new era, where fraternity, justice and work prevail,” said a statement read by one of the soldiers.

A few hours later, Interior Minister Alassane Seidou said the West African country’s armed forces had thwarted the attempted coup.

“Therefore, the government urges the population to go about their business as usual,” he said.

Foreign Minister Olushegun Adjadi Bakari had earlier told Reuters that “a small group” of soldiers had attempted to overthrow the government but that forces loyal to President Patrice Talon were working to restore order.

He said the coup plotters had only managed to take control of state television, which was cut after the soldiers read out their statement. It resumed broadcasting shortly afterwards, allowing the interior minister to read his statement saying the coup bid had been foiled.

West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS and the African Union condemned the coup attempt.

GUNFIRE IN SEVERAL NEIGHBOURHOODS

Gunfire could be heard earlier on Sunday in several neighbourhoods of Cotonou, the country’s largest city and economic hub, as residents were trying to make their way to church early on Sunday morning.

The French embassy said gunfire had been reported near Talon’s residence in Cotonou and urged citizens to stay at home.

By early afternoon, police were deployed at major intersections in the city centre and the gunfire had died down, witnesses said.

Narcisse, a furniture salesman in Cotonou who gave only his first name for safety reasons, said he first heard gunshots at 8:00 am (0700 GMT) and soon saw police officers speeding past.

“I got scared and brought my sofas inside and closed. It’s a bit calmer now, which is why I reopened,” he said.

The coup attempt came as Benin was preparing for a presidential election in April that would mark the end of the tenure of incumbent Talon, in power since 2016.

In their TV statement, the soldiers mentioned the deteriorating security situation in northern Benin “coupled with the disregard and neglect of our fallen brothers-in-arms.”

Talon has been credited with reviving the economy, but the country has also seen an increase in attacks by jihadist militants that have wreaked havoc in Mali and Burkina Faso.

In April, the government said that 54 soldiers were killed in an attack in the north by an affiliate of Al Qaeda.

Last month, Benin adopted a new constitution extending the presidential mandate from five to seven years, in what critics said was a power grab by the ruling coalition, who nominated Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni to be its candidate.

The opposition Democrats party, founded by Talon’s predecessor Thomas Boni Yayi, saw its proposed candidate rejected because of what a court ruled was insufficient backing from lawmakers.

Benin experienced several military coups and coup attempts in the first decades after independence from France in 1960. But there has not been a power grab by force in the country since it held multiparty elections in 1991.

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