They were once known as sworn enemies of Russia. Now they have become Vladimir Putin’s frontline infantry.
Chechen special troops from the Akhmat battalion were allegedly sent to the area around Kharkiv at the end of May, according to the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW). In an interview with Russian media two weeks ago, Apti Alaudinov, the commander of the units, asserted that the Chechen force were moving into Kharkiv – the current epicenter of the war of aggression initiated by Moscow more than two years ago.
The spokesperson for the Ukrainian Khortytsia operational-strategic group, Nazar Voloshyn, claims that Chechen battalions may have been sent there for “disciplinary” reasons, i.e., to act as so-called blocking units to kill soldiers who are trying to escape the battlefield.
According to Voloshyn, Russian troops are augmenting their numbers near the border by the transfer of units from other front sectors, such as the captured Kherson area. These units include unidentified airborne units from the 11th and 44th Army Corps.
Ever since invading his western neighbor on February 24, 2022 , Russia has attempted to reduce the necessity for a draft by enlisting soldiers wherever it could find them for its war effort. An almost complete prohibition on Chechens participating in the Russian military – originally conceived to prevent former separatist paramilitaries from undermining Moscow’s armed forces from within – was thus repealed in 2022.
Even some of the Wagner fighters, who were miffed at the prospect of working for the Russian Defense Ministry following the unexplained death of their commander Evgeny Prigozhin a year ago, moved entire units to the Akhmat battalions, which are trained in Chechnya and are partly used to retrain fighters from the Russian Army.
Like many things in Chechnya, the numerous Akhmat battalions were named after Mr. Kadyrov’s father, Akhmat Kadyrov. In the 1990s, Akhmad had fought Russian soldiers before turning around once Moscow troops seized control of what is now the Chechen Republic of Russia. In the early 2000s, he sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin to become the head of Chechnya, before his own opponents killed him in 2004.
Ramzan, his son, is in control now. Similar to his father, Ramzan Kadyrov is a significant Putin loyalist who has participated in Russia’s conflict in Ukraine through his warriors, the Kadyrovtsy. It’s unclear how much of a role Kadyrov has in Ukraine given claims that they’ve lost a lot of people, including a senior commander, The Guardian said.
As reported by the New York Times, the four-month contract with the Akhmat battalion is a significant perk compared to the ordinary troops’ unlimited deployments. Most of the soldiers are in their 20s and are all Chechens or from the tiny, nearby republics in the rugged Caucasus area. Compared to some regular Russian soldiers, however, the Akhmat forces have better equipment.
