1,000 Chechen Fighters Join Ukrainian Army In Fighting Putin, Liberating Ukraine; Slam 'TikTok Troops'

Chechen fighters have now joined Ukraine in its fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion with the aim of liberating the country.

Some 1,000 Chechen fighters have joined Ukraine's Dzhokar Dudayev battalion. Many fighters in the battalion have been deployed to the frontlines in the embattled city of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast where they are fighting against Russian forces who they say use tactics similar to those used by the Soviets during World War II.

"They throw and cover everything in meat and capture [territory] because they have a lot of this meat," one of the members told The Daily Beast.

Members of the battalion who have not been deployed to the frontlines are staying at a townhouse in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk which serves as their barracks. The place also acts as a storage area where the group keeps their 30- and 50-caliber machine guns, AK47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

When asked why they are fighting for Ukraine, the Chechen fighters who the outlet interviewed said they share a similar trauma with Ukrainians, referring to Russia's devastating invasion of Chechnya in the 1990s that led to the death of thousands of fighters and tens of thousands of Chechen civilians. Russia's invasion of Chechnya also reduced the country's capital, Grozny, to rubble.

"The same torture, the same mass graves ... the things the Russians are doing in Ukraine, they were doing back in Chechnya," Maga, a 30-year-old Chechen fighter told The Daily Beast.

However, the Chechens in Ukraine's Dzhokar Dudayev battalion are not the only ones fighting in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Another 9,000 Chechens are also fighting for Moscow in battalions organized by Kremlin-installed Gov. Ramzan Kadyrov. In fact, they have become notorious for their brutality and tendency to post videos of the fighting on TikTok.

"These are not good people, Kadyrovites... There's a Ukrainian word, nepotrib [trash]. It's TikTok troops... they [also] have these barrier units — Stalin's method — and no retreat, only forward," Alexander, another Chechen fighting for Ukraine, said, referring to reports that some troops are tasked with shooting Russian soldiers who attempt to retreat or escape.

Russia launched two invasions of Chechnya. The first war, which happened between 1994 and 1996, was won by the Chechens. Russia launched its second invasion in 1999 when Putin took over as prime minister, using tactics including razing cities to the ground with artillery and aircraft. This similar tactic was seen in Ukraine since Moscow's launched its invasion in February of last year, particularly in Mariupol, Severodonetsk and Bakhmut.