Chechen authorities force Russian propagandist to apologise

Over the past week a public conflict has erupted between notorious Russian TV presenter and Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov and pro-war blogger Roman Alyokhin, who previously served in the Chechen Akhmat unit.

On 19 March, Solovyov made harsh remarks about Alyokhin, a former adviser to the governor of Kursk Oblast, on the television programme ‘Solovyov Live’.

Solovyov expressed his displeasure with Alyokhin’s interview with Patrick Lancaster, a pro-Russian blogger with American citizenship, in which Alyokhin spoke about his alleged key role in ‘Operation Pipe’ to infiltrate the rear of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) through a gas pipeline in Kursk Oblast.

‘I organised the entrance [to the pipe], organised the supply of the whole operation and, accordingly, substituted for the commander when he was resting’, Alyokhin said in the interview.

Solovyov questioned Alyokhin’s competence and his participation in combat operations, asking rhetorical questions about his personality and merits.

‘Who the fuck is he? Who is this crook [...]? How can the legendary Akhmat unit keep this in its ranks?’, Solovyov asked.

In addition, Solovyov said the phrase ‘Is this an army or a gang? Akhmat is an army’.

Most likely, the representatives of the Chechen unit did not fully hear this phrase, paying attention only to the words ‘Akhmat’ and ‘gang’ in the same sentence, and drawing the connection that they were related.

On the same day, Akhmat commander General Apti Alaudinov criticised Solovyov’s words, and adding that he ‘does not choose the people who go to him’ but ‘works with those who are sent to him from the special forces university’, implying he was not responsible for the actions of his subordinates.

The next day, on 20 March, Chechen Press Minister Akhmed Dudaev, published two videos related to the issue in his Telegram channel. In the first video, Dudaev expressed concern over Solovyov’s remarks.

‘In order to warn our respectful, friendly relations with you from the encroachments of these satanists, I would like to ask you to clarify whether the words in question had anything to do with representatives of the Chechen Republic or the Akhmat special forces,’ Dudaev said in the video. It was unclear who exactly he was referring to as satanists.

In the second video, Solovyov gave a nearly two-minute explanation, assuring that his criticism was directed solely at Alyokhin, an ‘unworthy person’ who cast a shadow on the ‘impeccable reputation’ of the Akhmat unit. Solovyov emphasised that his words had been misinterpreted and expressed respect for the Chechen fighters, calling them ‘friends and brothers’.

‘I am surprised that it seemed to someone that during my angry tirade, dedicated to what in my opinion is an absolutely unworthy person casting a shadow on the impeccable reputation of a legendary special unit, that my words referred directly to the leadership of Akhmat or to my friend Apti Aronovich Alaudinov. ‘Fuck you’ can only refer to those devils who are trying to defame a legendary unit’, Solovyov said.

As a result of the incident, Alyokhin’s contract with the Akhmat unit was cancelled.

Alyokhin announced his decision to join the Akhmat special forces at the end of February.

Solovyov first criticised him in a broadcast back on 11 March. He expressed dissatisfaction with Alyokhin’s media activity, saying that the blogger ‘defames the fighters of [Alaudinov’s] unit’ and does not comply with the Defence Ministry’s order to regulate communication with the press.

Just shy of a month after he signed the contract, Alyokhin announced his dismissal. He added that his contract was terminated on the initiative of the Defence Ministry. For other soldiers in the Russian army, contracts are valid indefinitely.

‘Everyone should mind his own business — this is the main conclusion from the situation with my contract. The Defence Ministry simply corrected the mistake I made by signing the contract. I am a civilian manager, a social technologist, an analyst, a volunteer, a blogger in a sense, but not a military man with military skills. And I am more useful in the civilian sector for people and the motherland,’ Alyokhin wrote in his Telegram channel.

Alyokhin also boasted of three awards that he managed to receive during his 23 days of service. He became a full cavalier of the Spetsnaz-Akhmat Order and received the Order’s gold star for his participation in Operation Pipe.

Alyokhin is a pro-war blogger who became a pro bono adviser in the summer of 2024 to Alexei Smirnov, then governor of Kursk Oblast. When the region was headed by Alexander Khinshtein, Alyokhin wrote: ‘Maybe Alexander Khinshtein will be a good governor for the region, but it is almost certain that I will not be in the region. At the very least, because Khinshtein is rumoured to be a friend of Solovyov.’

In September 2024, Solovyov and Alyokhin’s conflict went public. In one of his broadcasts, Solovyov criticised an unnamed  blogger who had taken the liberty of expressing dissatisfaction with the low level of security at the military depots in Toretsk, Russian-occupied Ukraine. He began to hint opaquely at some murky schemes, drawing parallels between the blogger’s purchase of an expensive car and the fraudulent handling of money during the training camps. Shortly after the broadcast, Alyokhin recognised himself as the blogger being described. According to Alyokhin, Solovyov, who was afraid to name Alyokhin directly, was ‘hysterical’, and also reminded Solovyov of his real estate in a NATO country, which Alyokhin claimed looked strange for a man actively advocating patriotism.

In his response video, Solovyov listed the criminal cases against Alyokhin and called him a ‘crook’.

https://oc-media.org/chechen-akhmat-commander-accepts-official-congratulations-for-kursks-pipe-operation/