Suddenly everyone wants to enter the regime change business, as various country names and 'rogue' leaders are now being casually thrown around in conversations of "who's next" for Trump to take out.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has joined in. He's now urging the United States to pressure Russia by "carrying out some sort of operation" against Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov (and staunch Putin-ally) from power.
Zelensky drew direct comparisons with Trump overthrowing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. According to the quite provocative Wednesday comments, Zelensky said that removing Kadyrov would make Russian President Vladimir Putin "think twice" about keeping the war in Ukraine going.
"They need to put pressure on Russia. They have the tools, they know how. And when they really want to, they can find them," Zelensky said of the US under Trump.
"Here's an example with Maduro. They carried out an operation... Everyone can see the result, the whole world can see. They did it promptly. Let them carry out some sort of operation with, what's his name - Kadyrov," Zelensky said.
Earlier, Zelensky went so far as to "joke" that Putin himself should also be targeted in a Washington decapitation operation.
"If you can do that with dictators, then the United States knows what to do next," he said at a presser from his capital over the weekend, while laughing and smiling.
Such rhetoric, especially if it persists, could make Russia do some decapitation strikes of its own. Its forces have increasingly been targeting Kiev with missiles and drones, and even recently struck government buildings, and not far from Zelensky's presidential offices.
As for the Chechen issue, hundreds of thousands of troops from Russia's Muslim-majority republic of Chechnya have been fighting in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, a counter-threat...
Kadyrov: If the order is given, Zelensky and his cronies will end up in Grozny even faster than Maduro ended up in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/x3L7UIoUob
— Polymarket Intel (@PolymarketIntel) January 5, 2026
Kadyrov has ruled there since 2007, and has throughout the Ukraine conflict remained among Putin's most vocal supporters.
He has been not infrequently photographed with Putin, and large contingency of Chechen troops have held pro-Kremlin parades and displays of military power of late.
