Kadyrov claimed a video showed him ‘7 kilometers from Kyiv’ in the early days of the full-scale war. An investigation found it was actually filmed in a secret Chechen prison.

Meduza reports on an investigation by Novaya Gazeta Europe that debunked propaganda from the early days of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Chechen media claimed a video showed Kadyrov meeting commanders near Kyiv—just seven kilometers away. But the investigation found the video was actually filmed in Chechnya, hundreds of kilometers from the capital. It's part of a larger pattern of false narratives around Kadyrov's forces.

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