When we saw the global response of many (but not all) nations to Hamas’ brutal invasion of Israel, I’m guessing that some of you may have been thinking that at least this war shouldn’t spiral out of control. After all, who would actually take the side of Hamas, to say nothing of showing up to fight alongside them, right? But an unexpected player decided to toss their hat in the ring last night, suggesting that such a thing might really be possible. Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Chechen Republic and a staunch ally of Vladimir Putin, posted an announcement requesting a “coalition of nations” to find a “fair decision” and a “peaceful solution” to the conflict. He also suggested he was ready to send in the Chechen military to act as “peacekeeping forces.”  Something like that could get out of hand very rapidly were it to happen. (Newsweek)

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov—a long-time ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin—has declared his support for the Palestinian people in light of the recent escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict…

In a post to his Telegram channel Monday, Kadyrov pleaded “to the international community” calling for a peaceful solution to the conflict, and said that the Czech Republic is prepared to provide its own units as “peacekeeping forces” in the event they are needed.

“I appeal to the international community so that at least once they unanimously make a fair decision regarding the situation in Palestine,” Kadyrov wrote.

Kadyrov was making no bones about where he stands. He flatly stated, “We support Palestine.” He also urged western nations to use their influence to temper Israel’s actions so they don’t “bomb civilians under the pretext of destroying militants.” He said he opposes the war, but ominously stated that the conflict “can develop into something more.”

Having a Chechen “peacekeeping force” on the ground in the Gaza Strip could potentially be disastrous. It just seems like they would inevitably come into conflict with the IDF. At that point, we would have a military force with close ties to Russia battling a military force with close ties to the United States. As I said, that could definitely be a recipe for disaster.

Kadyrov wouldn’t do this on his own, so he’s probably already received a tacit thumbs up from Putin. Russia hasn’t “officially” taken sides in this fight yet, but given the response of the Chechens, it’s not hard to guess where Putin would land. None of this is a positive development as far as I’m concerned.

Of course, looking at the map I find myself wondering how Kadyrov would deploy his forces to Gaza and where he could establish a base of operations. The Chechen Republic doesn’t have a port and even if they could move their troops to a willing partner to the west, the Black Sea is a bit dicey these days for military traffic. I suppose they could try going overland if Georgia agreed to let them pass, but it’s still quite a trip. Kadyrov might be able to fly his troops in, but where would they land? Would Egypt consider helping them? That seems unlikely.

Israel isn’t going to be able to wrap up these operations overnight. And the longer this drags on, the greater the chance that some sort of significant escalation might unfold. The Chechens should just stay home, but the support for Israel is obviously far from universal in that part of the world.