Nanna Heitmann spent some time observing Russian troops training in Chechnya before traveling to Bakhmut, Ukraine. Neil MacFarquhar reported from New York.
A huge military transport plane roared onto the tarmac of the main airport in Grozny, the capital of the Chechen Republic in southeastern Russia, and a group of 120 volunteer fighters bound for Ukraine boarded the plane.
The new troops, dressed in camouflage uniforms, have just completed at least 10 days of training at the Special Forces University in Gudelmes, near Grozny, which accepts soldiers from all over Russia for general military instruction.
Some trainees lack any combat experience. Others are veterans returning to Ukraine for their second or third time, including former mercenaries from the Wagner militia, which disbanded in 2023 after a brief rebellion against the Kremlin.
Some Wagner fighters chafed at the idea of working for the Russian Defense Ministry and instead moved the entire unit to a Chechen-trained unit called the Ahmet Battalion, which was designed in part to absorb fighters from outside the Russian Army. Wagner’s veterans, often recruited first from prison, include a thin man with golden front teeth who, due to the possibility of reprisal, can only be identified by his military call sign “Jedi.”
“Go to your country? What kind of country? This puts me in jail for the rest of my life,” said Jedi, a 39-year-old construction worker who was convicted of robbery and fraud. He had been in and out of jail since he was 14 and had six months left on his six-year sentence when he signed up.
“Volunteering is about money,” he said. “I haven’t met anyone here who’s ideological.” He said he wanted to start over.
Generous signing bonuses coupled with monthly payments of about $2,000 (at least twice the average salary in Russia) spurred recruitment.
The training near Grozny highlighted the evolution of ethnic loyalties that characterized the war. Some ended up training in Chechnya as young conscripts in the Russian army, fighting against Chechens joining the separatist movement.
The involvement of some Chechens represents another inversion of history: After centuries of hostility with Russia, Chechens were deployed to Ukraine to fight Moscow’s war.
The separatist movement of the 1990s culminated in two brutal wars against Moscow that lasted on and off for more than a decade. The city of Grozny was razed to the ground and tens of thousands of Chechens died.
Chechnya’s authoritarian leader Ramzan Kadyrov has taken an aggressive stance toward Ukraine since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Early siege of Mariupol.
But Kadyrov has faced accusations that he did not send his fighters into the fight at full strength, and Chechens have suffered fewer deaths than soldiers from other ethnic minority areas. Sparing his fighters would protect his private militia, the core of the security forces that ensure his rule in Chechnya.
Instead, Kadyrov sought to emphasize his loyalty to Russian President Vladimir V. Putin by pouring resources into the military training center. The program includes live artillery exercises, some mining and demining instruction, and first aid.
Like many battalions in Chechnya, the various Akhmat battalions are named after Kadyrov’s father, Akhmat Kadyrov. Moscow camp and was subsequently assassinated in 2004.
Russia recruited troops to fight its wars wherever they could find them, seeking to minimize the need for conscription. In 2022, Russia lifted a near-total ban on Chechens serving in the Russian military, a fallout from the separatist movement.
Many of the group sent to Ukraine from the Grozny tarmac last fall were in their 30s and 40s, and there were fewer than 10 Chechens. Despite the Jedi’s claims, money wasn’t the only motivation.
Some fled troubled home lives. Others want to escape the daily grind. Of course, some claimed to be fighting out of patriotism. Many agreed to talk on the condition that they only reveal their names or military call signs for fear of reprisal.
Anatoly, 24, is one of 10 volunteers from a small alpine village in the picturesque mountains of south-central Altai. “My father forced me to shovel snow, work, and clean up cow manure,” he said. “I ran away from this job to do something else. It was the same every year.” He admits the money was also an incentive.
Another rural worker, a 45-year-old shepherd with the call sign “Masyanya”, traveled some 4,500 kilometers from the Republic of Khakassia to attend the training. “I want to defend my country so the war doesn’t come here,” he said.
The contract with Camp Ahmed only lasts four months, which is a big incentive compared to the indefinite deployment of regular soldiers.
Last fall, Kadyrov formed a new unit, the Sheikh Mansour Battalion, named after an 18th-century imam who fought against the Russian Empire. The soldiers, mostly in their twenties, are Chechens or people from neighboring small republics in the Caucasus mountains. Chechens fighting for Ukraine against Russia first named their battalion after Sheikh Mansour, and now Kadyrov is trying to reclaim the name.
Tupal, 20, was working as a security guard at a large supermarket chain in Moscow when he got permission from his father to join the new unit, saying he wanted to interact with “those in Ukraine who want to put their perverted ideas here.”
As he prepared to return to the training center after visiting his parents over the weekend, he hugged his mother and shook his father’s hand. “Russia has always been fighting for its survival,” said Tupal’s father, Mailali. “You can’t defeat it. It’s better for Chechnya to be with Russia than against it.
The Wagner veteran also served at Camp Sheikh Mansour. A 35-year-old fighter whose call sign is “Dikiy” (meaning “Wild”) said that when he signed up for the competition, he had already served 18 months of a nearly 10-year prison sentence for murder. He fought in Ukraine for 11 months, was wounded three times, and still suffered from severe headaches.
Back in Chechnya, he found the $200-a-month job demoralizing, so he returned to war. “I don’t know what else to do,” he said.
Ahmed’s troops were better equipped than the regular army; unlike some ordinary Russian soldiers, they did not have to purchase their own basic equipment.
Jedi said that when he first deployed with Wagner in Ukraine, some young men from the Russian army came begging for supplies, fuel and bread. “In Ahmed, I don’t even wash my socks. I wear them, throw them away, wear them again,” he said. “The same goes for underwear and sheets. We have it all.
Moscow subsidizes an estimated 80 percent of Chechnya’s budget, but it’s unclear how much is spent on military training.
At the airport, before the battalion departed, a senior officer lined up the recruits and wished them good luck. “Are you ready, warriors?” he shouted. “Yes, sir,” they shouted in unison, followed by the Muslim expression “Allahu Akbar!” or “God is Great!” plus the Chechen war cry “Akhmat Sila!” or “Ahmed Rules” !”
After arriving in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, some were sent to maintain Russian control of Bakhmut, which is now an abandoned city after months of fierce fighting.
The streets were deserted, especially during the day, as Ukrainian drones circled overhead, looking for targets. On foggy days, warriors can sometimes be seen walking among the ruins.
During the night, there was heavy traffic and the battle wounded scattered throughout the Buckmut area were evacuated. Burnt out cars and ambulances littered the roads.
Although the war raged mercilessly on the ground, the roar of artillery and shells did not penetrate deep below the surface, and Akhmat troops had occupied the field hospital first established by Wagner.
The Bachmut region was once famous for its sparkling wine, and the hospital operates in a maze of underground tunnels with tens of thousands of bottles stored on its walls. (Wagner’s and Akhmat’s drinking bans were largely observed.) This was once a tourist attraction, and the ancient décor is still intact. Dusty plaster statues of ancient gods loomed over the wounded.
The cave is wide enough to accommodate at least two trucks side by side, and several times a day vehicles transporting the wounded and dead navigate the dark, fog-shrouded maze. The soldiers jumped out of the vehicle and quickly carried their groaning comrades on stretchers to a temporary stable point.
One of the surgeons, 34-year-old Bourya, has been working for Wagner since 2017, mostly in Africa. There’s dirt,” but in Chechnya he found more respect.
As losses mounted, Burya said he was eager for the Russian Army to reach Kiev. “I don’t need their negotiation,” he said in a foul tone. “I hope Vladimir Putin can do it and we will get to the end. We will get there.
Anastasia Trofimova contributed reporting from Grozny and Bachmut.
