A Russian National Guard soldier from Chechnya was killed in Ukraine.

Arbi Israilov from the Gudermes district was killed in combat. Since the beginning of the Russian operation in Ukraine, authorities have publicly released the names of at least 262 Chechen soldiers killed there.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," by March 19, the names of at least 261 Chechen combatants killed in Ukraine had become known.

The North Caucasus Directorate of the Russian National Guard and the head of the district reported that Arbi Israilov from the Gudermes district of Chechnya was killed in the combat zone in Ukraine.

Israilov was an employee of the non-departmental security department of the Russian Internal Affairs Directorate for Chechnya. In 2023, a memorial plaque with his name was installed in a school in the village of Kadi-Yurt.

In August of that year, Khamzat Magamadov, head of the Gudermes district, announced that, at the initiative of residents, Sadovaya Street in the village would be renamed Arbi Israilov Street.

According to the memorial plaque, Israilov was killed in September 2022, at the age of 33.

Thus, at least 262 servicemen from Chechnya have been officially recognized as killed on the Ukrainian front (authorities have released the names of 239 killed; Ramzan Kadyrov announced the death of another 23 soldiers on October 27, 2022, without naming them). The "Caucasian Knot" maintains a list of names of natives of the North Caucasus and Southern Federal Districts killed in the military operation. The list was compiled based on data officially released by government officials and security agencies, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "North Caucasus Military District Statistics: Casualties Mounting in Southern Russia."

Regional authorities in Chechnya rarely report the number of fighters killed. Typically, the information is published by the republic's "Defenders of the Fatherland" foundation and local television stations, reporting on awards given to relatives.

Actual losses among combatants from the North Caucasus may be significantly higher than officially acknowledged. This situation is typical for all regions of the North Caucasus Federal District, but is particularly acute in Chechnya. In February 2023, Ramzan Kadyrov called on regional leaders not to disclose the number of those killed. "I don't understand when regional leaders trumpet the number of those killed in the SVO. My question is: why? Don't manipulate the topic of our heroes, writing that so many died in this region, and so many in another," he said.

State awards, memorial plaques, and appearances on Channel One do not guarantee state support for the families of those killed, according to the Caucasian Knot article "Three Comrades Served: How the Authorities Are Denying Benefits to the Families of Killed Volunteers." For example, without documents proving that a soldier participated in combat and died in the SVO, it is impossible to access benefits, such as a free place in a kindergarten, or apply for payments from the military registration and enlistment office, according to families who have encountered problems obtaining official documents from the unit.