Separate Special Purpose Battalion | |
---|---|
Founded | July 2022 |
Country | Ukraine |
Allegiance | Ministry of Defence (Ukraine) Chechen Republic of Ichkeria |
Type | Spetsnaz |
Role | Anti-tank warfare Artillery observer Close-quarters combat Cold-weather warfare Counterinsurgency Direct action Drone warfare HUMINT Irregular warfare Mountain warfare Patrolling Raiding Reconnaissance Special operations Urban warfare |
Size | Battalion |
Part of | International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine |
Nickname(s) | OBON |
Motto(s) | Marşo ya joƶalla ("Freedom or Death") |
Colors | Ukraine Chechen Republic of Ichkeria |
Engagements | Battle of Donbas (2022) [1] 2022 Ukrainian southern counteroffensive Eastern Ukraine campaign |
Commanders | |
Current commander |
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The Separate Special Purpose Battalion of the Ministry of Defense of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, [2] also known as OBON, [3] is a spetsnaz formation of Chechen volunteers, functioning as part of the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine. It is one of several Chechen armed volunteer formations on the side of Ukraine. It was created by Akhmed Zakayev on July 29, 2022, on the basis of a Chechen formation that has been fighting on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine to combat the purposes of their common enemy.
On July 29, 2022, at a meeting with the leaders of the Chechen volunteers in Kyiv, Akhmed Zakayev announced the creation of a new Chechen armed formation on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. [4] [5]
This formation was named OBON (Separate Special Purpose Battalion) and included in the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine. [5] According to Zakayev himself, as the battalion becomes bigger, it will be transformed into a "Separate Special Purpose Brigade" as part of the International Legion. [6] [7]
The unit is subordinate to the Ministry of Defense of the government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria abroad, headed by Akhmed Zakayev. It includes fighters from among the representatives of the Chechen nationality who serve in the Ukrainian army, as well as volunteers from the Chechen diaspora in Europe and abroad. [5]
The officer of the Ukrainian army Khadzhi-Murat Zumsoevsky who served for several years in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was appointed as the commander of the battalion. [4] His deputy is Khavazhi Amaev , a participant in the second Russian-Chechen war and Syrian civil war. [8]
In the beginning of August 2022, the battalion took part in the battles in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. [9] In August–September 2022, the battalion has taken part in the Ukrainian counteroffensive of the southern regions. [10] On May 13, 2023 member of the battalion Hussein Dzhambetov defected to the Russian side. [11] In September 2023, the unit is fighting on the Verbove-Novopokrovka front.[ citation needed ]
On September 26, 2024, the media outlet of the Chechen government in exile announced the formation of a new UAV unit to participate in drone warfare against the Russian Armed Forces, called “Stiglara Tajzar” (meaning “Heavenly Wrath” in Chechen). [12]
Akhmed Halidovich Zakayev is a Chechen statesman, political and military figure of the unrecognised Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI). Having previously been a Deputy Prime Minister, he now serves as Prime Minister of the ChRI government-in-exile. He was also the Foreign Minister of the Ichkerian government, appointed by Aslan Maskhadov shortly after his 1997 election, and again in 2006 by Abdul Halim Sadulayev. An active participant in the Russian-Chechen wars, Zakayev took part in the battles for Grozny and the defense of Goyskoye, along with other military operations, as well as in high-level negotiations with the Russian side.
Aslan (Khalid) Aliyevich Maskhadov was a Soviet and Chechen politician and military commander who served as the third president of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.
The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, known simply as Ichkeria, and also known as Chechnya, was a de facto state that controlled most of the former Checheno-Ingush ASSR from 1991 to 2000 and has been a government-in-exile since.
Doku Khamatovich Umarov, also known as Dokka Umarov as well as by his Arabized name of Dokka Abu Umar, was a Chechen mujahid in the North Caucasus. Umarov was a major military figure in both wars in Chechnya during the 1990s and 2000s, before becoming the leader of the greater insurgency in the North Caucasus. He was active mostly in south-western Chechnya, near and across the borders with Ingushetia and Georgia.
Ruslan Shamilevich Alikhadzhiyev was a Chechen brigadier general and politician who was Speaker of the Parliament of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He was forcibly disappeared by Russian forces in 2000, during the early stages of the Second Chechen War, and presumably murdered.
The Russia–Chechnya Peace Treaty of 1997, also known as the Moscow Peace Treaty, was a formal peace treaty "on peace and the principles of Russian–Chechen relations" following the First Chechen War of 1994–1996. It was signed by the president of Russia Boris Yeltsin and the newly elected president of Chechnya Aslan Maskhadov on 12 May 1997, in the Moscow Kremlin.
The 2010 Chechen Parliament attack took place on the morning of 19 October 2010, when three Chechen militants attacked the parliament complex in Grozny, the capital of the Chechen Republic, a federal subject of Russia. At least six people were killed, including two police officers, one parliament employee and all three suicide commandos.
Khuseyn Vakhaevich Gakayev, also known as Emir Mansur and Emir Hussein, was a mujahid Emir (commander) fighting in Chechnya. He was one of the most senior field commanders still operating in the North Caucasus prior to his death on 24 January 2013.
Ukrainian volunteer battalions were militias and paramilitary groups mobilized as a response to the perceived state of weakness and unwillingness of the regular Armed Forces to counter rising separatism in spring 2014. They trace their origins to the "Maidan Self-Defense" militias formed during the Euromaidan in 2013. The earliest of these volunteer units were later formalized into military, special police and paramilitary formations in a response to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine in 2014. Most of the formations were formed or placed under command of the Ministry of Internal Affairs — as "Special Tasks Patrol Police" — and Ministry of Defence — as "Territorial defence battalions". A minority of battalions were independent of state control.
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The Territorial Defence Forces are the military reserve component of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Dzhokhar Dudayev Chechen Peacekeeping Battalion is a Chechen volunteer battalion named after the first President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Dzhokhar Dudayev. The battalion is made up of Chechen volunteers, many of whom fought in the First Chechen War and Second Chechen War on the side of the Republic of Ichkeria, Ingush, Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians.
The Chechen National Army or Chechen Armed Forces are the united militarized formations of the former de facto Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.
The combatants of the war in Donbas included foreign and domestic forces.
The Chechen Republic, commonly known as Chechnya, is a federal republic of Russia that has been noted in several roles during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Kadyrovite forces have fought alongside the Russian forces, while several Chechen armed volunteer formations are fighting on the Ukrainian side. International observers have noted a number of comparisons between the invasion and the First and Second Chechen Wars.
The Sheikh Mansur Chechen Peacekeeping Battalion or simply the Sheikh Mansur Battalion is one of several Chechen volunteer Armed Formations participating in the Russian-Ukrainian war on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The battalion is named in honour of Sheikh Mansur, a Chechen military commander and an Islamic leader who fought against the expansion of the Russian Empire into the Caucasus during the late 18th century.
Rustam Magomedovich Azhiev also known by the pseudonym Abdul Hakim al-Shishani is commander-in-chief of the Chechen battalion OBON fighting on the Ukrainian side in the Russo-Ukrainian war. Azhiev is a veteran of the Second Russo-Chechen war and fought on the side of the opposition in the Syrian civil war. In the latter he was the leader of the rebel group Ajnad al-Kavkaz.
Chechen volunteers on the side of Ukraine are armed Chechen volunteers and other formations fighting on the side of Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian war. These formations have been fighting on the side of Ukraine since the start of the conflict in 2014. The Chechen forces position themselves as the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.
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