SO I DON’T KNOW IF THIS STORY IS TRUE: Chechen general Magomed Tushayev, the president’s right-hand man, killed near Kiev. “The Armed Forces of Ukraine have assured that shortly after 8:30 p.m. they have “neutralized” the Chechen general, Magomed Tushayev. Apparently, he could have been killed near Kiev, in the area known as Hostome. Tushayev He was in charge of the 141 motorized regiment of the so-called Kadyrov guard: one of the most elite units in Chechnya and whose contingent would be made up of about 400 men. Magomed Tushayev, was known as one of the Lords of war and its loss is a severe blow to the Chechen contingent that was moved to Kiev to support the Russian army in the capture of the Ukrainian capital.”

What does that mean? It means people are sending it to me, but they’re not people I regard as eminently trustworthy — which doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be trusted, just that I don’t have a relationship of trust with them, or a track record to assess. The outlet is one I can’t assess for reliability. I tried to confirm it from other sources but found basically variations on the same story, in outlets that I also can’t assess for reliability. That doesn’t mean it isn’t true, it just means I can’t form a useful opinion.

All wartime info is to be questioned, of course, especially when it comes from the warring parties or their supporters or detractors. In this case, true or not, the salience of the story is that the Chechen occupation troops, because of their known brutality (which fact is not in question) were intended to terrify the Ukrainian population. That manifestly hasn’t happened, but this story is likely to reduce their potential for terrifying the population further: If one of the “lords of war” has been killed already, how tough are they?

Again, that doesn’t mean the story is true or false. It’s a secondary impact that may happen whether the story is true or not.

Just an illustration of how these things work, and how difficult it is to form a true picture of what’s going on from afar. For that matter, even the actual warring parties face many of these difficulties.

And you know, I just realized I’ve been warblogging again. I thought that was behind me. . . .