05:48, 20 June 2026

Chechen authorities reported sending a group of fighters to Ukraine.

A group of fighters before being sent from Chechnya to Ukraine. Still from video https://www.instagram.com/p/DZu0VvTRybZ (Meta (the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia).

A new group of fighters, trained at the Russian Special Forces University, has departed from Grozny Airport for the special operation zone in Ukraine, Chechen authorities reported.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," Chechen authorities regularly report sending groups of fighters from the republic to the military operation zone in Ukraine. The most recent such report was published on June 3.

The total number of security forces sent from Chechnya does not include those who have withdrawn from the combat zone, are in barracks, are on leave, or have left the combat zone as part of rotation. Since November 2022, Ramzan Kadyrov has accompanied each report of the dispatch of another group with a call for people to contact the Grozny mayor's office and sign up as volunteers, regularly emphasizing that the flow of volunteers is not declining and there are no problems recruiting them. He also regularly reports that many of the volunteers are residents of other regions of Russia.

A new group of fighters has been dispatched from Grozny Airport to the war zone in Ukraine. According to him, all of them have completed training at the Russian Special Forces University, the state television channel Grozny reported on its Instagram page* on June 19.

A short video accompanying the post includes a fragment of a farewell speech delivered by Chechen Prime Minister Magomed Daudov to the fighters assembled on the airfield. Several fighters, speaking in Russian and Chechen, praise the training, equipment, and other provisions on camera.

The "Caucasian Knot" also reported that analysts familiar with the situation in Chechnya have repeatedly called coercion into signing contracts typical for the republic. For example, in November 2024, reports surfaced that security forces in Chechnya were conducting house-to-house visits and detaining men, offering them a choice between being sent to the front or facing criminal prosecution for visiting Telegram channels critical of the Chechen authorities.

On January 14, 2025, volunteers who arrived in Chechnya to sign military contracts complained that they were being held captive for weeks in order to be sent to the combat zone in place of local residents who had paid their way out of service. According to human rights activists, forced contracts are practiced in Chechnya, and security forces may create an "exchange fund" from volunteers arriving from other regions who will sign contracts in place of locals.

The Russian Special Forces University is a training center established by Ramzan Kadyrov in Gudermes, where volunteers are trained for deployment to war zones and where the Akhmat special forces unit is based. "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report "What They Teach at the Putin Special Forces University in Chechnya".

We've updated our apps for Android and IOS! We welcome criticism and development ideas both on Google Play/App Store and on KU's social media pages. You can follow us on Telegram without a VPN (with a VPN in Dagestan, Chechnya, and Ingushetia). Using a VPN, you can continue reading "Caucasian Knot" on the website as usual, and on social networks: Facebook*, Instagram*, "VKontakte", "Odnoklassniki" and X. You can watch the "Caucasian Knot" video on YouTube.

* Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/424256