Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted on Tuesday that defenses in regions bordering Ukraine are weak and need to be strengthened. He has been taken at his word by his ally and head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, who has ordered a Chechen battalion to be sent to the Belgorod oblast, the scene in recent months of serious attacks and armed incursions from Ukrainian territory.
On May 22, a strong armed contingent entered Russia through this region, claimed by two groups of Russian volunteers opposed to the Kremlin and fighting alongside the Ukrainian army: the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Russian Freedom Legion.
The Russian Armed Forces needed to use artillery and aviation to expel them back to Ukraine. Moscow, which described the saboteurs as “Ukrainian terrorists”, claimed to have killed 70 of them. The Kyiv authorities maintain that they had nothing to do with this action. According to the Russian authorities, during almost two days of fighting, 13 people were injured and 2 were killed.
On June 2, Russia claimed to have repelled yet another incursion attempt. But two days later the attacks against the city of Shebékino, five kilometers from the border, and other nearby towns intensified. As a consequence, more than 4,000 people had to be evacuated and temporarily accommodated in the regional capital, Belgorod.
To prevent these episodes from repeating themselves, Moscow has accepted that Kadyrov’s men reinforce that border. The Chechen chief has announced on his Telegram channel that “the Zapad-Ajmat (West-Ajmat) battalion of the Russian Ministry of Defense has already started this week its protection service of the Russian state border and the fight against sabotage groups. Ukrainians, as well as preventing their penetration into the territory of Belgorod Oblast”.
Chechen fighters are “fortifying” in the area of ??a checkpoint in the town of Nekhoteevka, “near the village of Kozinka, in the Graivoron district area.”
It was this region that Russian anti-Putin volunteer militias attacked on May 22, when they also claimed to have taken the small town of Kozinka under their control.
Kadyrov already proposed at the beginning of June to send Chechen fighters to Belgorod. The Chechen chief commissioned two of his trusted men to prepare the deployment of his special forces: State Duma deputy Adam Delimjanov, who was reported wounded in Ukraine this week; and Rustam Aguyev, head of the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Kurchaloyev district of Chechnya. Both are already in Belgorod, Kadyrov said.
Delimjanov met with Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov and representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry and Guard on June 13 to organize the deployment.
“Residents of the territories adjacent to the border with Ukraine can rest easy. The guys from the Zapad-Ajmat battalion, together with other units and services of the Russian Federation, will take care of their safety. Whoever invades our borders will receive an ultra-fast response! !” Kadyrov said.
Last Monday, the Chechen special forces Akhmat signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense to be integrated into the Russian Armed Forces, according to an order from Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Delimjanov was one of the participants in the signing.
