Russian Ministry of Defense Signs Contract with Chechen Special Forces Group “Ahmed Battalion”

The Russian Ministry of Defense said, on Monday, that it had signed a contract with the Chechen special forces group known as the “Ahmed Battalion”, a day after Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Russian private military group Wagner, refused to sign a similar contract.

The signing came after the issuance of an order stipulating that all members of the so-called “volunteer units” must sign contracts by the first of next July, to bring them under the control of the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, at a time when Moscow is trying to tighten its control over the special forces that fight on behalf. Reported in Ukraine, according to Reuters.

In return, the volunteer fighters will receive all the benefits and guarantees that regular forces receive, including support for them and their families if they are injured or killed.

Prigozhin constantly gets into disputes with the Russian Defense Ministry, accusing it of not providing sufficient ammunition supplies to his military group in Ukraine. On Sunday, he said he would refuse to sign any contract with the ministry, according to Reuters.

He added that Shoigu “cannot manage military formations well.”

On Monday, the Ministry of Defense signed a contract with the paramilitary “Ahmed Battalion”, which is described as the private army of the commander of the Chechnya region, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Unlike Prigozhin, Kadyrov has recently refrained from criticizing the defense ministry. Members of both sides have publicly feuded, with a close Kadyrov ally on Thursday describing Prigozhin as a “blogger who yells all the time about problems”.

Ahmed Battalion commander Apte Alaudinov, who was involved in signing the contract, said his battalion had “prepared and sent tens of thousands of volunteers” to Ukraine in the past 15 months.

Moscow said on Friday that the “Ahmed Brigade” forces were launching an offensive near the town of Marinka in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

“I think this is a very good thing,” Alaudinov was quoted as saying by the Defense Ministry’s website after signing the agreement.

After signing the deal with the Ahmed Battalion, Russia’s deputy chief of the general staff, General Alexei Kim, said he hoped other volunteer units would follow suit.