Isa Musayev and other Muslim fighters in Ukraine in January. Mr. Musayev helped found the Chechen battalions and was killed in February, another leader said. Credit Tomasz Glowacki
New York Times: Islamic Battalions, Stocked With Chechens, Aid Ukraine in War With Rebels
MARIUPOL, Ukraine — Wearing camouflage, with a bushy salt-and-pepper beard flowing over his chest and a bowie knife sheathed prominently in his belt, the man cut a fearsome figure in the nearly empty restaurant. Waiters hovered apprehensively near the kitchen, and try as he might, the man who calls himself “Muslim,” a former Chechen warlord, could not wave them over for more tea.
Even for Ukrainians hardened by more than a year of war here against Russian-backed separatists, the appearance of Islamic combatants, mostly Chechens, in towns near the front lines comes as something of a surprise — and for many of the Ukrainians, a welcome one.
“We like to fight the Russians,” said the Chechen, who refused to give his real name. “We always fight the Russians.”
He commands one of three volunteer Islamic battalions out of about 30 volunteer units in total fighting now in eastern Ukraine. The Islamic battalions are deployed to the hottest zones, which is why the Chechen was here.
WNU Editor: The enemy of my enemy is my friend .... unfortunately for Ukraine .... these Chechens are not exactly the people that you want to be associated with. Many of them are wanted men in the Caucasus for war and terrorism crimes, and coupled with their radical Islamic beliefs and hostility towards Russia will all but guarantee that wherever they are deployed the fighting will only escalate and any hope of a peaceful resolution will all but disappear. But .... with many Ukrainians now openly reluctant and/or hostile to participating in the war in the east, the Ukraine government has made the decision to welcome these soldiers as well as permitting the establishment of far-right militias. My prediction .... this is going to bite Ukraine in the end.