Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has used the war in Ukraine to expand his own army. In less than three years of fighting, the number of armed formations under his control has almost tripled, Proekt found out. Back in 2021, Kadyrov had seven units formally subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Russian National Guard. Each of them bears the name of his father, Akhmat, who was killed in a terrorist attack 20 years ago. These are three OMON units: Akhmat-Grozny, Akhmat-Fortress, and Akhmat-1.

The first two were created in 2000, and the last one in 2001. Also on the list: a police regiment (2004), SOBR (2005), the 141st motorized regiment, and the 249th separate motorized battalion "South" (both created in 2006). In the first year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, this number doubled. Taking advantage of the situation, in the summer of 2022 alone, Kadyrov assembled several regiments and battalions, allegedly for the Ministry of Defense, staffed according to ethnic principles: "North-Akhmat", "South-Akhmat", "West-Akhmat" and "East-Akhmat". Then the rifle battalion named after Sheikh Mansur was created, the formation of which was completed in October 2023.

Around the same time, two more units appeared, which were also formally included in the general army structure: the regiments "Akhmat-Chechnya" and "Akhmat-Russia". In addition, in 2023, the operational battalion named after Baysangur Benoevsky and the police regiment No. 2 for the protection of oil and gas facilities were created. Both are listed as part of the Russian Guard. Also under Kadyrov's wing were the 94th and 96th special forces regiments of the same department, which had been stationed in Chechnya since the early 2000s, while still part of the Interior Ministry's internal troops.

Each unit is headed by a commander loyal to Ramzan Kadyrov. The exact number of fighters in the army of the head of Chechnya is unknown. However, if you believe the figures that Kadyrov himself voiced during reviews of security forces, at the end of February 2022, he had 12 thousand well-armed and expensively equipped men at his disposal. By the beginning of 2024, their number had more than doubled to 25 thousand. And in October, Kadyrov cited a figure of 70 thousand. But the head of Chechnya is not going to stop there. After President Vladimir Putin's visit to the republic in September, Kadyrov announced the creation of another unit - for 2.5 thousand people. Thus, 20 armed formations will be under his control.

Almost all units are created from residents of Chechnya - Kadyrov has repeatedly said that he will not conduct mobilization in the republic, since there are already many people willing to join his legion. However, those who are sent to the war in Ukraine are mainly those who are members of the Akhmat volunteer regiment, formed in 2022. This unit is headed by Apti Alaudinov, who recently became a lieutenant general. It is staffed with soldiers from all over the country and there are almost no Chechens in it, journalists found out.

According to Kadyrov, by the end of August 2024, 19 thousand people joined the volunteer regiment named after his father. The fighters of this unit do not participate in reviews, unlike members of the other Akhmats, who are stationed in Grozny: after a short training, the recruits are driven to the front - the head of Chechnya reports every few days on a new batch of volunteers who have left for the war.

Since each of Kadyrov's detachments, regiments or battalions formally belongs to a federal agency - the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Russian National Guard or the Ministry of Defense - they are maintained at the expense of the federal budget. How much exactly is spent on them is unknown, since defense spending in Russia is hidden.

Kadyrov himself has repeatedly said that the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation also allocates money for the training and maintenance of these fighters. In the summer of 2024, the head of the Chechen government, Magomed Daudov, said that during the war, the foundation spent 33 billion rubles on these purposes. However, officially this organization does not have such money - from 2018 to 2023, Kadyrov's foundation received almost 16 billion rubles, that is, half the amount announced by Daudov.