Putin in Chechnya on unannounced visit

KABUL (Pajhwok): Russian President Vladimir Putin has made an unscheduled trip to Chechnya, a Muslim country within the Russian Federation.

This is Putin’s first visit in nearly 13 years, as Ukraine’s stunning cross-border incursion into western Russia entered its third week, AP reported.

Welcomed by Chechen leader Ramazan Kadyrov, Putin visited the special forces academy and spoke to volunteer fighters.

Putin praised the volunteers and said as long as Russia had men like them, it would remain “invincible,” according to reports by Russian state news agencies.

sa/mud