Which Chechen security service units matter most?
The Chechen security landscape is incredibly complex and continually expanding. It is made particularly confusing by multiple units having similar names.
Moreover, their institutional roles only tell part of the story: Many of them operate beyond their formal mandates.
Instead, it is the relationships of commanders and the way that the units are used that is particularly revealing.
Six units stand out as particularly important:
- SOBR Akhmat (formerly SOBR Terek) — Rosgvardia
- The 249th Detached Special Motorised Battalion (Yug) — Rosgvardia
- The Akhmat Kadyrov Special Purpose Police Regiment — Interior Ministry
- OMON Akhmat-Groznyy — Rosgvardia
- The Akhmat-Kadyrov 141st Special Motorised Regiment (Sever) — Rosgvardia
- The Kurchaloyevskiy Rayon Police Department — Interior Ministry
These are not the only units that matter, but they constitute the trusted core of the force structures underpinning the regime.
Any significant development involving the Chechen security services is likely to involve these units — and the men who cycle through them.
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