After significant losses in the war in Ukraine, "Kadyrovites" (Chechen fighters) sent back to Chechnya

Chechen troops with the Russian Army, the so-called "Kadyrovites" [a Chechen paramilitary group supporting the Russian Armed Forces - ed.], have been sent back to Chechnya after they lost hundreds of soldiers in the war in Ukraine.

Source: Radio Svoboda, referring to the counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU).

Details: While in Ukraine, the Chechen troops with the Russian Army, known as ‘Kadyrovites’ after the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, lost hundreds of soldiers and have returned to Grozny (Chechnya).

The SSU has shared details about the Kadyrovites’ losses in Ukraine, gave the names of the commanders of the Chechen units in the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia) who were spotted not far from Kyiv, and also shared details of their participation in the Russian invasion.

On 13 March, pro-government Russian Telegram channels posted a video of a military council, apparently held in a basement, in which the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, was participating.

There were claims that the recording was made within the territory of Ukraine, just a few kilometres away from Kyiv. Kadyrov’s critics labelled this information as yet another attempt to take advantage of the war for self-promotion. According to information received from the counterintelligence section of the SSU, Kadyrov did not visit Ukraine, while 13 March was the day when the Kadyrovite group was moved out of Ukraine to Belarus and then to Chechnya.

The information about the Chechen troops taking part in the Russian invasion in Ukraine started arriving during the first days of the war. On 26 February, a video on social media showed soldiers, allegedly Chechen troops, raising a Russian flag on the building of a military unit in Hostomel, a town 50 kilometres (31 miles) north-west of Ukraine’s capital. On the recording, one of the soldiers addressing Ramzan Kadyrov says that his detachment fought off three attacks by the Ukrainian army and captured the object.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine verified the video but stated that the Kadyrovites entered the military unit after it had already been cleared, and there was no fighting for it.

On 27 February, it came to be known that General Magomed Tushayev, the commander of the 141st Motorised Regiment of the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia) in Chechnya, was killed during the invasion of Ukraine. According to the report, his death was confirmed by a captive soldier of the same detachment.

"On 26 February, in the area of Hostomel (Antonov) airport, 450 Kadyrovite soldiers attempted a landing operation in Ukraine. They failed. Some of them managed to disembark from one of the planes and were shot right on the runway. Overall, from 26 to 28 February, Kadyrov’s troops lost several hundred soldiers", a source in SSU counterintelligence stated.

On 27 February, a video was spotted on social media of a huge Kadyrovite convoy. The caption stated that the video was taken north of Kyiv. Almost at the same time, another video was posted, possibly from Bucha, a town north of Kyiv. It showed a local resident demonstrating a destroyed military convoy and saying, "These are Kadyrovites"’.

At first, Ramzan Kadyrov denied losses among his soldiers. However, on 28 February, he confirmed the deaths of two soldiers from Chechnya, although he didn’t give their names. "Unfortunately, there are losses among Chechen natives. Two have died and six have received injures of various degrees."

According to the counterintelligence of the SSU, on 4 March, a combined Russian detachment made up of around 1200 troops of the National Guard of the Chechen Republic arrived from Belarus through the Chornobyl zone. It included soldiers from the ‘Sever’ (‘North’) battalion (its commander, Magomed Tushayev, was killed), ‘Yug’ (‘South’) (Hussein Mezhidov) and OMON ‘Akhmat-Grozny’ (Anzor Bisaev).

This grouping was under the command of Daniil Martynov, Ramzan Kadyrov’s right-hand man on security issues. He belonged to the FSB’s ‘spetsnaz’ (special forces), and became the aide to Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya, in 2017. There is a photo on social media of Martynov and Tushaev, with an inscription on the car ‘To Kyiv’.

The Kadyrovites set up their camp in the forest in the countryside of Borodianka (a town in Kyiv region). According to the SSU, a set of ammunition was blown up at night, killing some of the soldiers.

"Since then, they have started acting more carefully and split up into several groups. However, they did not take part in fighting and were busy terrorising locals in the area of Borodianka, Katiuzhanka and as far as Lyutizh. At the same time, they were shooting videos for social media", our source in the counterintelligence of the SSU states.

Eventually, according to the SSU, on 13 March, the Kadyrovites were moved from the territory of Kyiv region via Belarus and by air to Chechnya. At the same time, Ramzan Kadyrov recently claimed that he’s sending another thousand troops to Ukraine.