“Narrow misses” with the enemy and battles with bushes: A closer look at Kadyrov’s troops as Putin hands their leader yet another award

Apti Alaudinov, commander of the “Akhmat” special forces, pictured on a billboard alongside the following inscription: “The best general is the one who wins without fighting. Sun Tzu.”

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On Dec. 13, Vladimir Putin bestowed yet another prestigious decoration on Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia’s Chechen Republic, praising his “significant contribution to strengthening Russian statehood, the country’s defense capabilities, and advancing the socio-economic development of the Chechen Republic.” This time, as per a report from Russian state-owned news agency TASS, the award was the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland,” 2nd Class.

The Insider takes a closer look at Kadyrov and his forces' unique approach to “strengthening” Russia's defenses.

Destroyed a communications tower in Russia’s Belgorod and called it enemy infrastructure

In December 2023, Kadyrov took to social media claiming that fighters from the Chehchen “Zapad-Akhmat” (lit. “West-Akhmat”) battalion had destroyed a communications tower in the Belgorod Region — which is in Russia, not Ukraine. According to Kadyrov, the accomplishment deprived the “enemy” of communication, preventing them from calling for reinforcements. Zapad-Akhmat had reportedly seized the initiative and “destroyed the enemy.”

This wasn’t the first video Kadyrov shared of Akhmat fighters attacking Russian territory. Similar footage surfaced in August 2023, showing Kadyrov’s troops shooting at targets in the village of Lozovaya Rudka — also part of Russia’s Belgorod Region. A few months prior to the incident, Kadyrov claimed that Zapad-Akhmat had begun guarding Russia’s state border in Belgorod.

Captured an empty village in three days

Shortly before Ukrainian’s offensive into the Kursk Region this past summer, the “Akhmat-Chechnya” regiment “liberated” the border village of Ryzhevka — which is located on Russian territory and, at the time, contained no residents or enemy positions. Kadyrov himself reported on the “liberation” of the abandoned settlement:

“Thanks to large-scale, well-planned offensive actions, the Ukrainian side suffered significant losses and was forced to retreat. The coordinated and effective work of all units’ fighters allowed this result to be achieved without significant difficulties in just three days.”

“Narrowly missed” the Ukrainian forces in Kursk

In August 2024, as Ukrainian forces advanced into Russia’s Kursk Region, the commander of Kadyrov’s “Akhmat” special forces unit, Apti Alaudinov, claimed that his men had “narrowly missed” the Ukrainian troops. According to Alaudinov, the Ukrainians somehow managed to bypass the Chechen positions unnoticed — meaning the Chechens were not able to engage them in combat.

However, Russian pro-war blogger Yuri Kotenok had earlier presented a completely different narrative. Kotenok claimed that the Akhmat forces were positioned in the Kursk Region in the very area where the AFU offensive had started. The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel corroborated Kotenok’s version of events, writing that Kadyrov's special forces stationed in the Korenevsky District “dispersed” — essentially scattered — after the first Ukrainian attacks.

Other reports indicated that Chechen troops “ran off immediately,” leaving ill-trained conscripts to defend the border. Ukrainian channels shared videos of the Chechen units — which they nicknamed “TikTok troops” (1, 2) — accompanied by sarcastic comments about the way Akhmat fighters were “defending” the region.

A week after the Ukrainian incursion into internationally recognized Russian territory, Alaudinov made another statement, claiming, “There’s no irreversible process, nothing extraordinary has happened.” The Akhmat commander added that he wanted to personally execute Russian pro-war bloggers who criticized him over the situation in Kursk.

A widely circulated meme on social media showed Kadyrov’s troops advancing — backwards.

At the same time, a video surfaced of 23-year-old Russian conscript Evgeny Kovylkin, who claimed that Kadyrov’s forces had occupied a neighboring stronghold in Kursk but fled when Ukrainian troops surrounded them. Another Russian soldier claimed that “Kadyrov’s men hid behind the backs of conscripts.” Self-styled Russian “war correspondent” Vladimir Romanov echoed this claim — but was later pressured into issuing a public apology to the Chechens.

Used conscripts as human shields on the frontline

Following reports that conscripts were being sent into combat to defend the border in place of Chechen troops, Apti Alaudinov defended their deployment, arguing that “everyone, young and old, must stand in a single formation.” He continued:

“If your 18-year-old children, already serving in the Ministry of Defense as soldiers, shouldn’t defend the Motherland even when the enemy has attacked and is on our territory, I have one question for you: why do you and your children even exist in this country? Don’t turn 18-year-old conscripts into children who need pacifiers and a nap.

Don’t prepare them to do nothing, to avoid everything, and just come, eat the state’s bread for free, wear the state’s clothing, and then go home bragging about their service.

If you die defending your Motherland, your faith in God, you will go to paradise. And what could be better for a person than paradise on the path of the Almighty? Nothing.”

These statements came as media outlets published growing lists of conscripts who had been taken prisoner by Ukrainian forces.

No POW exchanges: “Do whatever it takes to get yourself killed”

From the first day of Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk Region, Apti Alaudinov has been one of the most visible public representatives of Russian forces, reporting almost daily on their supposed successes in driving back the enemy.

In September, Alaudinov made another statement, this time addressing Chechen soldiers who had been or might be captured by Ukrainian forces. According to him, no one would bother negotiating their exchange:

“I have a question for those of you who voluntarily surrendered. How deluded must you be to think I would plead or do anything to get you out of captivity? I have no respect for you, and I don’t think you deserve to live. I am shocked — after raising your hands and surrendering like little girls, how do you even plan to keep living? Even now, while in captivity, just stand up, grab a pen, a nail, attack someone — do whatever it takes to get yourself killed. Ukrainians, keep them for yourselves. We don’t need them at all. I couldn’t care less what you do with them.”

Several State Duma MPs responded to Alaudinov’s statement, cautiously reminding him that efforts are made to bring Russians home and that Chechnya remains part of Russia — at least for now.

The “Army of Jesus”

Somehow, Alaudinov’s advice that Russian prisoners of war liberate themselves through death is not even his most shocking statement. In November 2023, he told his unit fighting in Ukraine that they were the “Army of Jesus.” This took place during a visit to the front by Russian singer Vika Tsyganova.

Tsyganova and her husband visited the “Akhmat” unit to perform a concert “under the banners of Christ.” The performance featured camouflage-clad fighters holding flags with images of Jesus, a portrait of Kadyrov’s late father Akhmat Kadyrov, and the slogan “Russian World” (“Russky Mir”). Alaudinov thanked Tsyganova, saying her songs were “reminiscent of scripture” — presumably meaning the Holy Quran, given that Alaudinov and his fighters hail from an overwhelmingly Muslim republic.

Chechen MP rescues dogs while Kadyrov’s troops battle bushes and trees

In March 2022 — less than a month after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion — Kadyrov posted a story about State Duma MP Adam Delimkhanov and his troops saving dogs from “Banderite scum.”

“Courage, bravery, nobility, and a deep aversion to senseless cruelty have always been defining traits of Chechen fighters. This is why they are so successful in the special military operation,” Kadyrov wrote.

However, the “success” of Kadyrov’s fighters may have other explanations — like the absence of any real enemy. In July 2023, Kadyrov shared a video claiming Chechen troops had “launched a preemptive strike against Ukrainian-NATO bandits on their territory.” The video, set to ominous music, simply showed gunfire being directed into an empty field — with the only visible “damage” being inflicted on bushes and trees.

Fighting invisible enemies and traffic lights

Kadyrov and Chechen Telegram channels regularly post videos of staged battles, earning Kadyrov’s soldiers the nickname “TikTok troops.”

The footage is always similar: the camera only focuses on soldiers firing their weapons, never showing their targets. One video features Kadyrov’s fighters walking through open terrain, shouting loudly and shooting at shrubbery as if engaged in an intense battle. But there is no return fire, and no sounds suggesting anyone else is even present in the area.

Sometimes, however, Kadyrov’s troops take a break from shooting at trees and pick new targets — like train tracks.

Or even traffic lights.

The Kadyrovites aren’t just TikTok warriors — they’re also slow

In June 2023, during the rebellion of late Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin, Chechen formations of the Russian National Guard — essentially Kadyrov's personal security service — were pulled away from the front line in Ukraine and redirected to Rostov-on-Don. They were likely the only Russian troops to be taken out of the combat zone as a result of the Wagner mutiny.

Throughout the course of the uprising, however, the Chechen formations were either en route to the trouble spot — or else they were stuck in traffic. In the end, they never reached Rostov and never confronted the men of Wagner PMC.

However, Kadyrov’s troops did unexpectedly find themselves on a bridge in the suburbs of Kolomna, near Moscow, where they recorded a ridiculously pompous staged video reminiscent of the TikTok-inspired antics that had gained them so much fame at the beginning of the Ukrainian campaign. In the video, soldiers of the 249th Special Motorized Battalion “Yug,” from the 46th Separate Special Purpose Brigade of the Russian National Guard, promised to “bury the traitors, the homeland's betrayers,” with the “help of the Almighty Allah.” They chanted slogans like “Akhmat Sila” (lit. “Akhmat is power”) and “Allahu Akbar” — this time without even bothering to fire their weapons.