Date of event
17/03/2022
Details
Aleksandr Khodakovskiy, commander of the DNR Interior Ministry’s Vostok Battalion, claimed that Chechen security service forces — comprising units from extradepartmental security and traffic police and arriving in Mariupol for combat operations — were not highly trained. Khodakovskiy characterised them as possessing “lightly armoured vehicles, no support means, no preparatory work.” He also claimed that Chechen fighters were under orders to seize territory quickly and perform a role that they weren’t equipped for.
Unit deployed
People deployed
Area
Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast
Significance
Khodakovskiy identifies extradepartmental security and traffic police, but not specific units.