Military experts doubt possible transfer of Chechen power units to Ukrainian border

The subdivisions of the "Rosgvardiya" (Russian National Guard) don't subordinate to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and usually don't take part in its exercises and operations, Russian military experts told the "Caucasian Knot" in their comments on the information about the sending of military equipment from Chechnya in the direction of Ukraine.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 3, the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) reported on the movement of columns of military equipment, which is in service of the Grozny OMON (riot police) and "Rosgvardiya", in the direction of Ukraine.

The information about the transfer of the above Chechen units to the Ukrainian border is not credible, since any use of Russian armed units abroad requires the consent of the Federation Council, and this procedure is public and transparent, said Alexander Perendjiev, a military political analyst and Associate Professor at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.

He has noted the erroneous perception of the units of Russian law enforcers deployed in the Chechen Republic as Ramzan Kadyrov's personal army. "Our units are not subordinate to the head of any Russian subject. Maybe it seems to someone, but these are all units of federal power, in no case subordinated to Kadyrov; many myths have developed here. He has influence, but this is only within security issues inside the Chechen Republic," Mr Perendjiev has stated.

The regrouping of troops in the territory of Russia is the prerogative of the country's MoD; however, units of the "Rosgvardiya" and OMON can't take part in the exercises held by the MoD, since they perform other missions, said Alexander Artamonov, a military observer for the "Zvezda" (Star) weekly. "Any regrouping of troops in the territory of Russia indicates nothing. Moreover, such units cannot be used as offensive ones. I believe that this information is incorrect. Such units don't take part in battles; they specialize in something else," Mr Artamonov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 5, 2022 at 08:10 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.