Yug-Akhmat Battalion — One of Chechnya’s Defence Ministry units
This profile provides key details about the Yug-Akhmat Battalion, one of several “Chechen” units created within Russia’s Ministry of Defence. Created in summer 2022, it has participated in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Profile last updated: 6 March 2024.
Key takeaways from the profile
- Yug-Akhmat is one of four “Chechen” units within the Russian Defence Ministry created in mid-2022. It is constituted as a battalion; Zapad-Akhmat and Vostok-Akhmat were likewise designated as battalions, whereas Sever-Akhmat was constituted as a regiment.
- The Yug-Akhmat Battalion is subordinate to the 42nd Motorised Division, part of Russia’s 58th Army of the Southern Military District.
- It has participated in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since September 2022, but appears to have been less active there than the Sever-Akhmat regiment.
Overview
- What is the Yug-Akhmat Battalion?
- Who is a member of the Yug-Akhmat Battalion?
- Where does the Yug-Akhmat Battalion operate?
- Other notable details
- Sources
What is the Yug-Akhmat Battalion?
The Yug-Akhmat Battalion is a “Chechen” unit within the Russian Ministry of Defence. It has been commanded since its creation by Musa Iblayev/Borziyev (Zveroboy).
Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov announced plans to create four such units — the Sever-Akhmat regiment and the Yug-Akhmat, Zapad-Akhmat, and Vostok-Akhmat battalions — on 26 June 2022 (Telegram, 2022). He declared that the process of forming all four had been completed by 18 July 2022 (Caucasian Knot, 2022).
Yug-Akhmat is subordinate to the 42nd Motorised Division, which forms part of Russia’s 58th Army of the Russian Southern Military District (ChGTRK Groznyy, 2023). It should not be confused with the 249th Detached Special Motorised Battalion Yug, which is part of Russia’s National Guard (Rosgvardia) Kavkaz Realii noted that it was unclear why Sever-Akhmat had been constituted as a regiment, when the other three Akhmat Ministry of Defence units had been designated as battalions (Kavkaz Realii, 2022).
Where is Yug-Akhmat based?
The base of the Yug-Akhmat Battalion is in Khankala, Chechnya (43°17’53.74″N, 45°45’18.27″E) (Caucasian Knot, 2022).
Delimkhanov also associated the military base 16544 — which is located in Borzoy, Shatoyskiy Rayon, Chechnya — with the unit in a post about Borziyev (Telegram, 2023).
Who is a member of the Yug-Akhmat Battalion?
Major Musa Iblayev/Borziyev (Zveroboy)* has been the commander of the unit since its creation.
When the unit was created, Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov stated it would be comprised exclusively of Chechen fighters (Telegram, 2022).
* Musa Iblayev and Musa Borziyev are the same person: Both are referred to at different (non-chronological) times as commander of the unit by Chechen official sources, and some of these sources identify both as having the call sign Zveroboy (Kavkaz Realii, 2023; Caucasian Knot, 2024; Caucasian Knot, 2022; Chechnya Today, 2023; Caucasian Knot, 2023; Chechnya Today, 2023; Telegram, 2023; Telegram, 2024).
Members of Yug-Akhmat reported killed
Date | Name | Rank | Place of origin | Location killed | Source |
20 January 2023* | Roman Sultanovich Bersunkayev | Senior police sergeant | Chechnya | Not specified |
* Date reported; date of actual death unknown
Gallery of Yug-Akhmat members
Where does the Yug-Akhmat Battalion operate?
Ukraine
Kadyrov reported that two deployments from Yug-Akhmat had left Groznyy to participate in the “special military operation” on 19 and 27 September 2022, having been trained at the Russian University of Spetsnaz (Caucasian Knot, 2022). This appears to have been the unit’s first deployment.
In June 2023, Russian prisoners’ rights NGO Rus Sidyashchaya published a video of the interrogation of Sergey Medvednik, a captured fighter from Spetsnaz Akhmat. According to Medvednik, Sever-Akhmat and Yug-Akhmat were fighting alongside his group near Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast (Kavkaz Realii, 2023).
The following table details the activities of the unit, as reported by the Chechen authorities, the unit itself, or other pro-Russian sources. These constitute an admission of the unit’s involvement in specific parts of Russia’s broader aggression in Ukraine:
Date | Area of operation | Details |
December 2022 | Zaporizhzhia Oblast | Kadyrov claimed the Akhmat Kadyrov foundation had delivered “humanitarian aid” to fighters from Yug-Akhmat, Sever-Akhmat, and Zapad-Akhmat (Chechnya Today, 2022). |
December 2022 | Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia Oblast | Chechnya Today reported that fighters from the unit had attended prayers in the Ar-Rakhma mosque, led by a delegation from the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Chechnya (Chechnya Today, 2022). |
February 2023 | Zaporizhzhia Oblast | Kadyrov claimed that Sever-Akhmat, Yug-Akhmat, Vostok-Akhmat, and Zapad-Akhmat had all received “humanitarian” supplies from the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation (Telegram, 2023). |
April 2023 | Zaporizhzhia Oblast | Kadyrov claimed that the unit was using drones to identify Ukrainian troops (Chechnya Today, 2023; Telegram, 2023). |
May 2023 | Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Orikhiv front | Kadyrov claimed that troops were active in the area (Vesti Chechenskoy Respubliki, 2024). |
June 2023 | Zaporizhzhia Oblast | Kadyrov reported that Russia’s 58th Army — including units from the regiments Akhmat-Rossiya, Akhmat-Chechnya and Sever-Akhmat and the battalions Vostok-Akhmat, Yug-Akhmat and Zapad-Akhmat — had destroyed a large number of Ukrainian tanks participating in a counteroffensive in Zaporizha Oblast (ChGTRK Groznyy, 2023). |
August 2023 | Orikhiv front | Kadyrov claimed the unit had destroyed Ukrainian Leopard tanks on the front (Groznyy Inform, 2023). |
February 2024 | Zaporizhzhia Oblast | In an interview, Iblayev claimed a resident of the village of Mikhailovka had appealed to him and the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation for support for an eye operation. Iblayev also claimed that, on the request of local residents, the unit had repaired a water station (Chechnya Today, 2024). |
Other notable details
Noteworthy incidents and events
In February 2023, the Telegram channels Baza and ASTRA claimed that soldiers from Yug-Akhmat had illegally tried to transport cartridges and grenades from Zaporizhzhia Oblast to Kalinovskaya, Chechnya, but were stopped by police in Stavropol Kray. The channels did not provide any evidence to substantiate their claims (Kavkaz Realii, 2023).
Iblayev was awarded the Hero of Chechnya medal for his services in Ukraine in October 2023 (Argumenty i Fakty Stavropol, 2023). He received the Order of Courage in the same month (Telegram, 2023).
International response
Neither Yug-Akhmat nor Iblayev have been sanctioned by the US, the UK, the EU, or Ukraine, despite their extensive involvement in Russia’s “special military operation.”