Putin Ally Kadyrov Says Ukraine's Cities Should Be 'Erased from the Earth'Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia's Chechen Republic, called for Ukraine's cities to be "erased from the earth" as he once again criticized the military's handling of the war.Weeks after criticizing the way the conflict has been handled so far, Kadyrov, a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Moscow is "responding weakly" to Kyiv's counteroffensive to retake the southern Kherson region, and shelling in other areas that Putin has proclaimed to have annexed.In an audio message on his Telegram channel on Monday night, Kadyrov for the first time also described Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a "war."He criticized the Russian Defense Ministry after Ukrainian forces took back Izyum, Kupyansk and Balakleya in the Kharkiv region, which had been seized by Putin's forces during the war.Russian citizens have been convicted for referring to Putin's assault on Ukraine as a "war" or as an "invasion" under laws passed in March to crack down on dissent."