@Rybar on "Virtual" Battalions on the Side of the AFU
Vladlen Tatarsky wonders where all the volunteer nationalist battalions formed by natives of the North #Caucasus and #Crimea are fighting. Indeed, is there any confirmation of their actual participation in combat operations in Ukraine at all?
Which formations are we talking about?
"Sheikh Mansur" Battalion:
Chechens from this battalion have been fighting in Ukraine for many years and took part in the genocide of the #Donbass population in 2014-2016.
It is they, together with the "Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion", that constitute the "North Caucasian backbone" actively supported in the Western press to foment separatism in the Russian regions in the Caucasus.
Their activities were noted in the #Kherson direction in November after the withdrawal of Russian troops to the left bank of the #Dnipro river.
At the same time, they did not actually take part in the battles, but played the role of the most common units of the thero-defence already after the withdrawal of the RF Armed Forces, taking up positions in the second echelon.
"Muslim Corps - Caucasus":
The volunteer corps as part of the "International Legion of Defence of Ukraine" was formed in May this year.
According to an official statement, it was created "at the request of Muslims living in Ukraine for the freedom of the Caucasian peoples from the oppression of the Russian authorities".
The main contingent consists of natives of the Caucasus, as well as some representatives of Turkic peoples - including Crimean Tatars and Azerbaijanis who took part in the fighting in #Donbass in 2014-2016.
The corps has a Telegram channel that periodically publishes photos from the alleged training of recruits, but their credibility is highly questionable, given that there is still no real evidence of their involvement in the conflict.
"Crimea" Battalion:
The unit was established in 2014 and mainly consists of Crimean Tatars who fled the peninsula. However, since its formation, there has been no information on the battalion's actual involvement in combat.
In February this year, Nariman Bilyalov (pseudonym Isa Akayev), the founder of the volunteer battalion, announced the reactivation of the battalion, which also included natives of the North Caucasus region.
Since its re-establishment the media have been reporting on the successes of the nationalist formation with some frequency. At the same time, the members of the "Crimea" Battalion" themselves complain about the low level of support from the Ukrainian authorities.
Apart from various interviews and publications on Telegram, there is also no real confirmation of the participation of the Crimean Tatar unit in battles. Back in April, we explained in detail that radical Islamists are nothing more than a tool of Ukrainian propaganda. Moreover, they are actively used to promote separatist ideas in the Russian Federation.
🩸 Despite the militant statements of the representatives of these battalions, most of them fight virtually. Their main purpose is informational influence on representatives of the Turkic and Caucasian peoples of #Russia.
And the prefix "battalion" does not reflect the real reality. In some cases the number of volunteer formations does not exceed a hundred men.
The "Sheikh Mansur" Battalion seems to be taking part in battles, but in the second echelon. Their main task is to broadcast a pretty picture of the "struggle against Russian power" to the population of the Caucasus.
https://t.me/sitreports/1633