Putin's Allies and Chechen Fighters Engage in Showdown as Kremlin Plays Both Sides in Ukraine War.

A public feud between two of Russian President Vladimir Putin's top allies, Yevgeny Prigozhin and Ramzan Kadyrov, has erupted over the capabilities of the Chechen Akhmat battalion in occupying the self-proclaimed "Donetsk Republic" region of Ukraine. Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, had been pouring his mercenary fighters into the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine alongside conventional troops as part of a push by Moscow to secure its first major battlefield victory in the war since the summer of 2022. Chechen officials have criticized Prigozhin's comments, with one ally of Kadyrov even suggesting that Prigozhin should be "put up against the wall."