Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) has claimed that it carried out an operation against the Chechen Akhmat special forces unit and managed to install a listening device in the formation’s headquarters and obtain information about Russian forces’ plans over several months. The HUR claims this made it possible to inflict ‘the heaviest losses’ on the unit over the entire period of its participation in hostilities.
Akhmat commander Apti Alaudinov has denied the claims, describing the published recordings as ‘fairy tales’ and ‘the work of artificial intelligence’.
According to a statement by the HUR published on its official Telegram channel, the operation began after a former member of the Akhmat unit made contact with Ukrainian military intelligence in early 2025. The agency claims it recruited him and that he subsequently took part in transferring information. In February 2026, according to the Ukrainian side, a listening device was delivered to the agent by an unmanned aerial vehicle, which he installed in a meeting room used by the unit’s command. The agent is now said to be on territory controlled by Ukraine.
According to the HUR, recordings of conversations among the command staff, including Alaudinov, were used to plan strikes on Akhmat units operating in Ukraine’s Sumy region. Ukrainian intelligence claims that between February and April the unit sustained losses of 41 killed and 87 wounded, with around another hundred listed as missing. It also reports the destruction and damage of military equipment, including armoured vehicles, drones, communications systems, and warehouses.
The HUR also stated that the operation was conducted with the participation of a special unit composed of supporters of the independence of Chechnya-Ichkeria, and mentions a formation known as Shamanbat. In an address circulated by the Ukrainian side, a representative of this unit, Abdul Hakim, called on residents of Chechnya not to sign contracts with the Russian army and, in the event of mobilisation, to contact Ukrainian forces.
The HUR published several audio fragments which it says were obtained through the wiretapping. In them, a voice attributed to Alaudinov speaks critically about the state of Russian forces. In one recording, he says that ‘most of our artillery crews and tank crews do not even know how to fire properly’. Another contains harsh remarks about Russian airborne troops.
Shortly afterwards, Alaudinov commented on the HUR’s claims on his Telegram channel, saying that he had learned about the alleged wiretapping of his meetings from reports online. He questioned the authenticity of the published materials and stated that if the wiretapping had indeed been conducted over a long period, it should have led to different results.
‘Today I learned with horror that, it turns out, for two months my meetings were being listened to by Ichkerian and Ukrainian LGBT people who […] Well, one has to give them “five out of five” for their work with artificial intelligence [...] My question is: if you were listening to me for two months, why did you not do anything about my work?’ Alaudinov said.
At the same time, earlier, in October 2024, Alaudinov had already criticised the Russian army in a broadcast on Russian media outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda. He questioned the Ministry of Defence’s approach to defending Russia’s Kursk region, stating that the military, together with the ‘valiant National Guard’ and ‘valiant border services’, had failed to act during the Ukrainian offensive into Russian territory.
The escalation of fighting in Ukraine’s Sumy region, referred to in the HUR’s statement, is linked to operations by Russian forces in that direction. Russian officials had previously spoken about the need to create a so-called ‘buffer zone’ in border areas. At the end of 2024, Alaudinov began regularly publishing reports on the unit’s actions in this sector, stating that Ukrainian equipment and positions had been destroyed.
Elizaveta Chukharova
