Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has taken part in an iftar together with Chechen volunteer fighters at the Islamic Cultural Centre in Kyiv.
According to the Association of Muslims of Ukraine, the iftar was attended by fighters serving on Ukraine’s side in units formed from ethnic Chechens who support the independence of Ichkeria.
Ichkeria was a short-lived Chechen state that emerged following the collapse of the Soviet Union, existing for almost 10 years before being crushed by Russia. It is now being represented by a government-in-exile whose state is recognised by Ukraine as being ‘temporarily occupied’ by Russia.
Video footage from the event shows the commander of the Armed Forces of Ichkeria, Abdul Hakim Shishani (Rustam Azhiev), and the Ukrainian representative of the Ichkerian government-in-exile, known by the call sign Ansar.
According to the presidential office, during the iftar Zelenskyi presented state awards to servicemen, including the Orders of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (5th class), Bohdan Khmelnytskyi (3rd class), For Courage (3rd class), and Danylo Halytskyi, as well as the medals For Military Service to Ukraine and Defender of the Fatherland. The president addressed those present, stating that the country’s resilience is linked to the participation of citizens of different faiths in its defence.
In 2023, Zelenskyi also took part in a similar event and said that his attendance at such iftars would become a tradition.
In October 2022, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted a resolution recognising Chechnya as a territory temporarily occupied by Russia and condemning the ‘genocide of the Chechen people’. In November of the same year, Zelenskyi responded to an electronic petition calling for recognition of Ichkeria’s independence, which gathered more than 25,000 signatures and, under Ukrainian law, required consideration by the president.
Several units formed from supporters of Ichkeria are fighting on Ukraine’s side. These include a separate special purpose battalion within the International Legion, created in 2022 by Akhmed Zakaev, Prime Minister of Ichkeria, as well as the Sheikh Mansur and Dzhokhar Dudaev battalions, the Mad Pack unit, the Special Operation Group (SOG), and the Khamzat Gelaev battalion.
Iftar is when Muslims break their fast during the month of Ramadan, held after the sun sets.
Until 2014, Muslims made up about 1% of Ukraine’s population, the majority of them Crimean Tatars. After Russia’s annexation of Crimea, a significant part of the Muslim population found itself on the peninsula. The Russian authorities designated the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people — an executive body claiming to represent the Crimean Tatars — as an extremist organisation, and its activities were banned in Russia.
Since the start of the full-scale hostilities in 2022, the Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly emphasised the participation of representatives of various national and religious groups in the country’s defence.
Azhiev took an active part in the Second Chechen War, commanding the central front of the Ichkerian army while serving as a field commander of the organisation Imarat Kavkaz, which is designated as a terrorist organisation in Russia and the United States.
Between 2013 and 2024, he participated in the civil war in Syria on the side of the Syrian opposition against the government of Bashar al-Assad. He has been placed on the federal wanted list in Russia and is included in Russia’s official register of terrorists and extremists.
