Kadyrov presents ‘Hero of Chechnya’ title to convicted ex-police officer

Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov has awarded the title ‘Hero of Chechnya’ to Bekkhan Yunusov, commander of the ‘Hades’ detachment of the Akhmat Special Forces. Kadyrov announced the news in his Telegram channel, noting the merits of Yunusov and other fighters during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Yunusov, a native of Chechnya, previously served in law enforcement agencies in the Moscow region. In 2016, media dubbed him the ‘Khimki Batman’ after he was filmed wearing a mask and attacking drug dens, beating their visitors, in Khimki, a city located near Moscow. He himself published videos of his ‘raids’ on social media, in which he preferred to call himself the ‘Reaper’.

In 2018, Yunusov was arrested and charged with abuse of power. The court found him guilty and sentenced him to four years in prison. After his conditional release in 2023, he joined the Chechen special forces Akhmat, where he received the call sign ‘Hades’, and headed one of its units.

The unit under Yunusov’s command is actively involved in combat operations in Ukraine. Yunusov also maintains a Telegram channel called Diary of the Dark Fighters, where he publishes materials about the activities of his unit and raises funds to support the fighters.

Kadyrov has repeatedly written about the Hades unit and about Yunusov himself; in total, Kadyrov has mentioned Yunusov in his Telegram channel 37 times during the war, OC Media has calculated.

Yunusov regularly provides comments to Russian propagandists about what is happening in the Kursk region. In all interviews, Yunusov always wears a mask or balaclava.

According to Kadyrov, in addition to Yunusov, seven other fighters received the title of ‘Hero of Chechnya’ on Sunday: Vakha Saaev (call sign ‘Vakha’), Sultan Magomadov (‘Hunter’), Andrei Kudashkin (‘Archangel’), Sergei Ismailov, Oleg Treydin, Rustam Dzhabrailov, and Lechi Zulaev.

The practice of involving former convicts in combat operations and their subsequent awarding is not uncommon. In addition, Chechen unit Akhmat fighters have also been removed from the list of ‘terrorists and extremists’ in Russia for participation in the war against Ukraine. Among them were people convicted of terrorist acts and participation in gangs.

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OC MediaElizaveta Chukharova