Kadyrov's 'Akhmat' Special Forces Mobilize Near Border Amid Raid Fears
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said he has deployed his Akhmat battalion to border areas in the Belgorod region amid fears of raids from Russian territory.
The move is likely part of a "continued effort to align himself with the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD)," the Institute for the Study of War, a think tank based in D.C, said in its latest analysis of the conflict in Ukraine.
Two Russian rebel groups—the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC)—entered Belgorod in early June, and intense fighting has been ongoing since. The Legion is made up of defectors from the Russian armed forces and Russian and Belarusian volunteers, and the RVC says its members include Russians fighting on Ukraine's side and against the Kremlin regime.
Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov (R) speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, on August 31, 2019. ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/Sputnik/AFP/Getty Images
In recent months, shelling attacks and drone strikes have increased intensity in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine. Russia has blamed Ukrainian forces for the attacks. The latest incursions have been characterized as some of the largest inside Russian territory since the war began last February.
Kadyrov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, claimed on June 15 that his Chechen Akhmat battalion arrived to the Nekhoteevka and Kozinka border checkpoints in Belgorod region on orders to protect the border from raids into Russian territory.
The Chechen leader emphasized that his fighters will work alongside Russian forces to defend the region and residents of other border areas.
"Kadyrov likely aims to posture himself and Chechen forces as cooperating with the MoD, directly contrasting with Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin, who previously threatened to deploy Wagner forces to Belgorod Oblast without permission from the Russian MoD or the Russian military command," the ISW said.
The think tank said Kadyrov has also taken advantage of the frequent Russian information-space discourse about the Belgorod region to "posture himself as an effective and cooperative military leader without having to commit all Chechen forces to an attritive offensive or defense effort."
The announcement from Kadyrov came shortly after Russian soldiers fighting against the rebel groups complained that "entire regiments" were being wiped out.
"We are under constant shelling, officers, ordinary soldiers and above all the people who have families and all their relatives at home are being killed," a Russian regiment fighting near the border town of Shebekino in Belgorod said in a message to the Pskov Province Telegram channel published on June 6.
The Russian soldiers said poor leadership and a lack of reinforcements and equipment are to blame for high casualty numbers.
"We are ready to defend our homeland, but with proper supplies," the unit said. "And to be taken prisoner without arms or with no possibility to counteract is not defending the homeland. On behalf of the 1009th regiment we ask you to look into this serious problem and make decisions as soon as possible."
Kadyrov said on June 4 that "the terrorists who invaded the Belgorod region could be dealt with by Chechen units."
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry via email for comment.
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Source: Newsweek
