1.06.2023
War criminal and part-time head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov announced the offensive of his personal guard in the Donetsk region and other hot areas. This “event” is now being actively promoted by Russian propagandists, presenting the Kadyrovites as “fearless warriors”, although they have stubbornly refused to take part in active hostilities for a long time – they have a completely different “specialization”.
What they did and what is behind the new sending of Chechen mercenaries to the front – read in the material OBOZREVATEL.
Order – not only to the Donbass
Apparently, the Russian command ordered the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, to send his units for offensive operations after the withdrawal of the Wagnerites from Bakhmut, according to a recent report from the Institute for the Study of War.
ISW referred to Kadyrov’s statement about the order for Chechen troops to take responsibility for the front line in the Donetsk region.
“Kadyrov noted that the Russian military command had ordered the Russian units of the National Guard and the Chechen forces of the Akhmat detachment to launch offensive operations on the front line also in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. Kadyrov stated that these units had already begun tactical preparations for these offensive operations, and claims that the offensive operations of the Akhmat units began before the Ukrainian troops launched a counteroffensive,” the report says.
However, at the time of writing, ISW did not notice the slightest sign of Kadyrov’s offensive operations – neither in the Zaporizhia nor in the Kherson regions.
The authors of the report point out that if Chechen units controlled by the Kremlin return to the front, it will take place almost a year after their participation in active hostilities ceases. Earlier, the Kadyrovites participated in the occupation of Mariupol (Donetsk region), Severodonetsk and Lysichansk (Luhansk region) in the spring and summer of 2022.
“The limited involvement of Chechen frontline units, together with Kadyrov’s heavy emphasis on mobilization, may indicate that Kadyrov is hesitant to commit his forces to heavy offensive operations in Ukraine despite his ultra-nationalist rhetoric,” the Institute for the Study of War said in a report.
ISW believes that the Kremlin is trying to re-engage the Kadyrovites as the main offensive force after the withdrawal of the Wagnerites. But even if the words of the head of Chechnya about 7,000 Kadyrovites in Ukraine are true, these forces, according to analysts, will not be enough to successfully (for the occupiers) carry out several important offensive operations.
What “distinguished” TikTok troops in Ukraine
But even a larger number of Kadyrovites in the combat zone, with which the leader of Chechnya tried many times unsuccessfully to intimidate Ukrainians, will not be able to radically change the situation.
Everyone knows these mercenaries first of all as TikTok warriors. Such a “title” has firmly stuck to them, since from the very beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, the Kadyrovites diligently filmed staged videos in the style of “Rambo” – and in most cases far from the real front line.
After the flow of “cargo 200” went to Russia, the Kadyrovites tried not to approach the front line, so as not to fall into the zone of fire destruction of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But their “successes” stubbornly continued to extol the head of Chechnya.
The love of these “warriors” for video content was sometimes a plus for us. For example, in the Kherson region, a Kadyrovite helped our military by highlighting the location of the invaders: he filmed a video from the school where the invaders settled and posted it on the net.
After that, our defenders worked well and covered the location of the enemy – the bodies of the invaders had to be collected for a long time.
Detachments and torture in occupied cities
In fact, Kadyrov’s units in Ukraine play only an auxiliary role, carrying out sweeps and combing the area and guarding objects, and do not perform the functions of the same assault squads. So the opinion that Kadyrov’s mercenaries can replace the “Wagnerites” withdrawn from the Donbass is, to put it mildly, erroneous.
“Real military operations are not for them. The main specialization of the Kadyrovites is to act as detachments: that is, to stand behind the backs of Russian soldiers, and in case of refusal to obey the order, shoot. This practice was already in the occupying army, and now it is returning. Mainly with this is the reason for the “second coming” of Kadyrov’s mercenaries,” the source of OBOZREVATEL in intelligence is convinced.
According to him, given that most of the mobilized Russians are not eager to die, and besides, there is also a “special contingent” of prisoners, then someone needs to control them – and Kadyrov’s people can quite cope with this.
“They have carte blanche to shoot their own soldiers in the back. They will do it without hesitation,” the officer is convinced.
The terror of the local population in the territory occupied by the Russians is another strong point of Kadyrov’s mercenaries. They are engaged in looting and squeezing out business even from pro-Russian residents.
“They are like locusts, they rob wherever they appear – what kind of ideology is there, what kind of jihad? Yes, they pray for money,” a resident of the Zaporozhye region shared in a conversation with OBOZREVATEL.
According to the source, the Kadyrovites have also been seen torturing Ukrainians in this region, for example, in Vasilyevka. Therefore, the main threat from them is still not at the front.
“What “distinguished” TikTok troops in Ukraine”
Well, they enjoy creating action-packed videos for TikTok, they enjoy killing ruskie troops that retreat or desert, they loot, rape and torture, and they find goats and sheep attractive, if you know what I mean. But, you’ll never see them at the front, fighting like real men.
I would say now that Prickozhin has seen his Wagner scum decimated, it’s Kadyrov’s turn. Putler is destroying any threats to the mafia state.
And the tiktok boss is too stupid to see this.