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Chechen rebel commander fighting in Ukraine against Russia after leaving Syria

January 12, 2023 at 9:50 am

Chechen commander Abdul Hakim Al-Shishani was seen in Ukraine’s eastern city of Bakhmut [Twitter]

An infamous Chechen commander has seemingly travelled to Ukraine from Syria to fight amongst Ukrainian forces against Russia’s invasion.

In clips circulating on social media, Abdul Hakim Al-Shishani was seen in Ukraine’s eastern city of Bakhmut yesterday, seemingly taking up arms with local Ukrainian forces against the ongoing Russian invasion.

https://twitter.com/DrvnkUncleZ/status/1611771128858710017

Having fought in the 1990s Chechen war against Russia, Al-Shishani then travelled to Syria following the outbreak of the Syrian revolution and ongoing civil war to fight against the regime of Bashar Al-Assad.

In Syria, he commanded the Islamic Chechen militant group Ajnad Al-Kavkaz, the largest of the Muslim opposition factions from the former Soviet Union. Following the crackdown on his and other rebel groups by the dominant opposition group, Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) over the past few years, however, their leaders were arrested by HTS and their members were pacified or exiled from the group’s territory in the north-western Syrian province of Idlib.

According to the news outlet, Atlas News, the resurfaced Al-Shishani told reporters that “Russia is fighting in Syria through planes, but in Ukraine, we can confront the Russian army [on the ground]. Every enemy of Russia is a friend of ours”.

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