Kadyrovite Lieutenant Colonel was killed in Ukraine, says AFU StratCom

Lieutenant Colonel Zaur Dimayev with Ramzan Kadyrov, Head of the Chechen Republic / AFU StratCom

Another Russian Lieutenant Colonel, Deputy Commander of the 4th Battalion of the Kadyrov Regiment Zaur Dimayev, was killed in Ukraine, reports Strategic Communications Directorate of Armed Forces of Ukraine.

It is important to note that the Kadyrovites Regiment belongs to the special police forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia stationed in Grozny. In 2021, Novaya Gazeta published an investigation on Kadyrovites, which stated that the group was involved in extrajudicial executions in Chechnya.

Kadyrovites in Russian-Ukrainian War

Reports of Chechen military involvement in Russia's war against Ukraine emerged in the first days of the invasion. On February 26, a video of alleged Kadyrovites hanging a Russian flag at a military unit in Hostomel in Kyiv Oblast was published on YouTube.

In the video, one of the militants, addressing Kadyrov, states that his unit repulsed three Ukrainian attacks and seized the military facility. The Armed Forces of Ukraine commented that the Kadyrovites had entered the territory of the already empty facility. There were no battles for it.

Ruslan Leviev, the founder of the Conflict Intelligence Team, calls the Chechens "PR troops": "We never saw their participation in the fighting ... they can make a lot of videos and photos, as they walk with machine guns and "clean up" houses."