formerly SOBR Terek; Special Rapid Reaction Detachment (SOBR) Team "Terek”; Special Rapid Response Unit; СОБР «АХМАТ» УФСВНГ РФ
Brief description
SOBR Akhmat is a Chechen rapid response unit subordinate to Rosgvardia. It functions as an elite paramilitary unit that engages in tactical and combat operations, including counterterrorism.
SOBR Akhmat is one of the most trusted security service units in the republic, and many senior Chechen security service commanders have previously served with it. It was formerly called SOBR Terek.
The unit has participated in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
History
SOBR Akhmat has repeatedly been implicated in human rights violations in Chechnya. For example, in 2017, Novaya Gazeta reported that Chechen residents regularly identified SOBR Akhmat (then SOBR Terek) employees as participating in rights violations, including the persecution of homosexuals in the republic. It claimed that the group’s base was used for detentions and torture (Novaya Gazeta, 2017).
In May 2019, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned the unit and its then-commander, Abuzayd Vismuradov, for human rights violations under the Magnitsky Act (U.S. Department of the Treasury, 2019). In December 2020, the United Kingdom sanctioned the unit for its involvement in the persecution of LGBT communities in Chechnya (UK Sanctions List, 2020).
Leadership
- Timur Edilov (likely late 2024-date)
- Abusupyan Vaykhanov (likely spring 2020-late 2024)
- Abuzayd Vismuradov (March 2012-March 2020)
