In a video shared by pro-Kremlin journalist Anastasiya Babir on 23 May, Chechen Akhmat special forces commander Apti Alaudinov showcased the new flag of the unit, which combines the Chechen flag, the Russian tricolour, the Islamic crescent, and the Orthodox cross, along with a photo of the late Chechen leader Akhmat Kadyrov.
Previously, the unit’s flag only featured the Chechen flag and Akhmat Kadyrov’s appearance.
Alaudinov said the new version of the flag represents a ‘symbol of unity’.
He went on to explain that the changes reflected the new constitution of the unit, which is only 25% ethnic Chechen, after three years of full-scale war in Ukraine.
While opting not to explicitly discuss if the demographic changes of the unit are connected to losses in Ukraine, Alaudinov said that three years ago, the unit entirely consisted of Chechens.
Since then, he said, 23,000 volunteers from across Russia have joined Akhmat over the last two years, and that Russians in general compose 50% of the total unit. The remaining 25% of the unit, according to Alaudinov, are from other ethnicities in Russia and the former Soviet Union.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Chechen Akhmat unit has gained notoriety for reportedly focusing more on filming themselves than actually performing combat duties, earning the online moniker of TikTok soldiers.
According to military experts and eyewitnesses, Chechen soldiers often remain on Ukrainian territory already captured by Russia, where they take videos purporting to show ‘combat’, but in reality are of soldiers shooting at already destroyed houses and performing fake rescue missions.
Elizaveta Chukharova
