After this and other training outside the Ukrainian capital, Chechen soldiers, decked out in various camouflage footwear and protective gear, will head to the front lines in Ukraine, pledging to continue the fight against Russia that has raged for years in their homeland in the North Caucasus . Fighters from Chechnya, the war-torn republic in southern Russia, are on both sides of the conflict in Ukraine. The pro-Kiev volunteers are loyal to Dzhokhar Dudayev, the late Chechen leader who led the republic’s bid for independence from Russia. They are the “Dudayev Battalion” and are the sworn enemies of Chechen forces who support Russian President Vladimir Putin and have joined Russia in the months-long siege of Ukraine’s main port of Mariupol and other flashpoints in eastern and southern Ukraine. A group of Chechen new arrivals, many of whom live in Western Europe, were training at a makeshift shooting range outside Kyiv before heading east. At a training session on Saturday, the recruits – all Muslim men – chanted “Allahu akbar!” (“God is great!”), holding their rifles in the air before being handed military ID cards issued to volunteers. Ukrainian officials say the Chechen battalion currently numbers several hundred fighting alongside the country’s military, but is not officially under national command. Instructors teach new members of the battalion combat basics, including how to use a weapon, assume a firing position and how to work in teams. The trainers include veterans of the wars in Chechnya that ended in 2009, some of whom joined Ukraine after fighting against Russian-backed separatists began in Ukraine in 2014. The story continues Tor, a volunteer who asked only to be identified by his battlefield nickname, said he sees no difference between the two conflicts. “People need to understand that we have no other choice,” he said, speaking in English and with his face covered. “If they (Russian forces) win this war, they will continue. They never stop. I do not know. Next will be the Baltic countries or Georgia or Kazakhstan. Putin openly, absolutely, says he wants to rebuild the Soviet empire.” Russia has launched two wars to prevent Chechnya, a predominantly Muslim province, from gaining independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The first conflict broke out in 1994. The second Chechen war began in 1999 and culminated in a siege by Russian troops of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, which was destroyed by heavy Russian bombardment. After years of fighting an insurgency, Russian officials declared the conflict in Chechnya to be over in 2017. Muslim Madiev, a veteran fighter of the Chechen conflicts, identified himself as an adviser to the volunteer battalion in Ukraine. He joined soldiers Saturday in target practice, aiming a plastic bottle held on a stick. Shells flew from his automatic rifle into a field full of bullets, shotgun shells and cardboard target sheets. “We will win this war. The whole world is already defending us,” he says, speaking in Russian. “We were the only ones who fought for ourselves (in Chechnya). No one stood with us. But now the whole world is behind Ukraine. We have to win, we have to win,” he declared. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at
