Kadyrov’s army increased threefold throughout the Special Military Operation: 20 military groups and 70 thousand combatants
The leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, utilized the SMO in Ukraine to amplify his personal military force. In fewer than three years of conflict, the number of armed groups under his authority nearly tripled, as revealed by the Project.
Going back to 2021, Kadyrov possessed seven divisions formally under the direction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Guard. Every one of them carries the name of his father Akhmat, who perished in a terrorist assault two decades prior. These consist of three special police detachments — «Akhmat-Grozny», «Akhmat-Fortress» and «Akhmat-1». The initial pair were established in 2000, and the latter — 2001. The list also includes: a police regiment (2004), SOBR (2005), the 141st motorized regiment and the 249th independent motorized battalion «South» (both created in 2006).
In the initial year subsequent to the SMO in Ukraine, this quantity doubled. Capitalizing on the situation, in the summer of 2022 alone, Kadyrov gathered several regiments and battalions, purportedly for the Ministry of Defense, constituted on the basis of ethnicity: «North-Akhmat», «South-Akhmat», «West-Akhmat» and «Vostok-Akhmat». Subsequently, the Sheikh Mansur rifle battalion was created, its formation concluding in October 2023. Around that time, two additional units materialized, which formally also integrated into the overall army framework: the regiments «Akhmat-Chechnya» and «Akhmat-Russia».
Additionally, in 2023, an operational battalion bearing the name of Baysangur Benoevsky and police regiment No. 2 were established with the purpose of protecting infrastructure related to oil and gas. Both are classified as components of the Russian Guard. Moreover, the 94th and 96th special forces regiments of the aforementioned entity, which had been located in Chechnya from the early 2000s, remained elements of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ internal forces.
Each unit is led by a commander faithful to Ramzan Kadyrov. The precise count of fighters within the Chechen leader’s armed force is unclear. However, if one accepts the figures declared by Kadyrov himself during inspections of security forces, he possessed 12 thousand well-armed and lavishly equipped individuals at the end of February 2022. By the dawn of 2024, their numbers had more than doubled — soaring to 25 thousand. And in October, Kadyrov cited the figure of 70 thousand. The head of Chechnya, however, has no intentions of halting there. Following President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the republic in September, Kadyrov unveiled the development of yet another unit — for 2.5 thousand individuals. Consequently, he will have 20 armed formations under his command.
Almost all units consist of Chechen residents — Kadyrov has frequently asserted that he will not conduct conscription in the republic, as there are numerous individuals eager to enlist in his legion even without it. Nonetheless, it is predominantly members of the volunteer regiment «Akhmat», established in 2022, who are deployed to the special operation in Ukraine. Apti Alaudinov, who recently attained the rank of lieutenant general, commands this unit. It comprises soldiers from across the nation and contains scarcely any Chechens, as journalists have discovered.
According to Kadyrov, by the close of August 2024, 19 thousand individuals had enrolled in the volunteer regiment named after his father. The soldiers of this unit do not partake in the reviews, unlike the members of the other Akhmat units stationed in Grozny: following brief training, the recruits are sent to the front — the Chechen leader provides updates every few days regarding a fresh batch of volunteers en route to the Northern Military District.
Since each of Kadyrov’s detachments, regiments, or battalions formally belongs to the federal department — Ministry of Internal Affairs, National Guard, or Ministry of Defense — they receive backing from the federal budget. The exact amount spent on them remains undisclosed, given the confidential nature of defense spending in Russia.
Kadyrov himself has repeatedly stated that the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation also earmarks funds for the training and upkeep of these combatants. In the summer of 2024, the head of the Chechen government, Magomed Daudov, indicated that the fund allocated 33 billion rubles for these objectives throughout the SVO. Simultaneously, this organization does not officially possess that level of funds — from 2018 to 2023, Kadyrov’s fund received nearly 16 billion rubles, half the amount declared by Daudov.
