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Jihadis On The Ground In Ukraine

Chechen Jihadis In Ukraine – 30-3-23

Abdul Hakim Al-Shishani, aka Rustam Azhiev, Former Emir Of The Syria-Based Chechen Jihadi Group Ajnad Al-Kavkaz

Pro-jihadi Twitter accounts announced on October 10, 2022 that Abdul Hakim Al-Shishani, aka Rustam Azhiev, former emir of the Syria-based Chechen jihadi group Ajnad Al-Kavkas, had arrived in Ukraine, and would be overseeing the Separate Special Purpose Battalion (OBON) of the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Ajnad Al-Kavkaz, comprising experienced fighters from Chechnya and other regions in the Caucasus, operates in Idlib and surrounding areas where Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham has full control, and is critical of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On Telegram, a Russian-language jihadi channel reported on October 10 that an AK source had confirmed Al-Shishani’s arrival in Ukraine, along with some of the group’s fighters. According to Ukrainian intelligence, on October 15 Al-Shishani was promoted to the rank of colonel of the armed forces in exile of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

A Russian-language Telegram channel which posts news from Chechnya, shared, on October 16, 2022, photos showing Al-Shishani at a meeting with other commanders in Ukraine. In a second post that included a YouTube video of the meeting, the channel stated that Al-Shishani had been appointed commander of the Ichkerian unit, and that Al-Shishani would be sending his own video message later. It also shared a photo of Al-Shishani’s Ukrainian passport.

On October 18, the channel shared a video showing Al-Shishani recording a video message together with two other Chechen leaders: Akhmed Zakaev, the former prime minister of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, and Abdulа Ortkhanov, а minister of state of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

Additionally, on October 23, 2022, a Telegram channel opposed to Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) said that Al-Shishani had arrived in Ukraine to join the war against Russia. The channel added that he had been accompanied by 70 Ajnad Al-Kavkaz fighters, and that Ajnad Al-Kavkaz had been pressured to leave Syria by HTS leader Abu Mohammad Al-Joulani, who ordered the group to halt its attacks on Russian forces in Syria. According to the post,  Al-Joulani had warned Ajnad Al-Kavkaz of possible arrest, expulsion, or assassination if the fighters disobeyed his orders. The channel also said that Al-Joulani coordinated with the “intelligence agencies” of other countries to facilitate the departure of AK fighters to Ukraine.

A website that covers news concerning Chechnya reported on November 10 that Al-Shishani and his regiment would be part of the OBON of the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. This news was also shared by a Russian language pro-jihadi Twitter account. In a second tweet, the account stated that Al-Shishani had commanded the Central Front (Amir of Grozny) of the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria from 2007 to 2009 and had been emir of Ajnad Al-Kavkaz between 2013 and 2019.

On January 7, 2023, a pro-jihadi Twitter user who states in his bio section that he is a “big fan of Muslim combat sports athletes” posted footage of Al-Shishani fighting against Russia in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, writing: “And Rustam Azhiev (Abdul Hakim Al-Shishani) is already out there fighting Russian terrorists in Bakhmut. The brother is a true veteran of many wars and battle fronts.”

The video, which has the logo of Ukraine Defense Intelligence, showed Al-Shishani in military gear using a shoulder-fired launcher while carrying out a raid.

On January 9, 2023, a pro-HTS Telegram channel shared photos of Al-Shishani in Bakhmout.

In response to the video, a prominent pro-Alqaeda Jordan-based jihadi ideologue Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi asked which banner Al-Shishani was fighting under in Ukraine and why he was dragging young Muslims to fight these battles. Lamenting how some jihadis had spent years waging jihad but never understood that jihad is a “means to support monotheism,” Al-Maqdisi argued that fighting “to liberate the land of the unbelievers is not jihad for the sake of Allah.”

In a brief interview aired January 31, 2023 by the UAE-based Alaan TV, Al-Shishani said that his group and Ukraine “have a common enemy.” In response to the interviewer’s question ” “And how will you fight this enemy if the war in Ukraine ends?” he replied, “If I can return to my country, I will fight them from there, God willing.” He added that he hoped and aimed to achieve a unified Chechnya under one national leadership, stating: ” We believe that this will happen, if not today, then tomorrow. We believe that we will return, and we will have our independent country, inshallah.”

View Al-Shishani’s statements on MEMRI TV here or below:

*Steven Stalinsky Ph.D. is Executive Director of MEMRI; R. Sosnow is Lead Editor at MEMRI; A. Smith, S. Ali, K. Choukry, Matt Schierer, N. Mozes, Y. Kerman, G. Pacchiani, and Y. Kulka are Research Fellows at MEMRI.

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