An official of the Russian Republic of Chechnya informed that a commander of the Akhmat special forces was killed while participating in Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.
Newsweek reported a Chechen official on July 3 said that Yevgeny Pisarenko, commander of the Akhmat task force, was killed while fighting in Ukraine.
On Telegram, a unit commander of Akhmat Apta Alaudinov announced Mr. Pisarenko’s death. Dmitry Kulikov, a Russian war correspondent, also published similar information.
The sources did not specify when or where Pisarenko was killed while fighting in Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry has not commented on this information.
The Republic of Chechnya is a predominantly Muslim region. Although still part of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Chechnya has been granted a lot of autonomy by Moscow.
In September 2022, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov announced that the region had established the OMON Akhmat-1 task force dedicated to serving Russia’s military operations in Ukraine.
According to him, this force consists of 2,000 well-trained, fully equipped, and idealistic soldiers. He also confirmed that the above number could be increased because many Chechens expressed their desire to go to the battlefield.
Last November, Kadyrov revealed that Chechnya at that time sent a total of 20,000 troops to Ukraine.
At the end of May, Kadyrov said he would send more Akhmat special forces to the front line after the Wagner private military force gradually withdrew from its positions on the front lines.
On June 12, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that this unit had signed a contract with the Akhmat special forces of the Republic of Chechnya. The signing follows a stipulation that all-volunteer military groups must sign the contract by July 1, and they will be under the direction of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
In return, members of the volunteer group will receive the same rights and protections as regular Russian soldiers, including benefits to support them and their families if they are injured or killed.
The contract that the Russian Defense Ministry signed on June 12 is with the Akhmat paramilitary force, which is often referred to as Ramzan Kadyrov’s private force.
