Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Chechen fighters of the Zapad-Ahmat battalion have arrived in a blaze of publicity to 'protect' the Belgorod region. However, local people say they're staying well back from the border and are "hiding" behind poorly trained and equipped conscripts. ⬇️

2/ The Chechens are reported to have taken up positions in the border village of Nekhoteyevka and at a checkpoint near the village of Kozinka, where members of the Russian Volunteer Force staged an incursion in May.

3/ Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov says "our fighters are dug in at the checkpoint. The border is now closed to bandits." The Chechens are reportedly telling local people that they will "save the Belgorod residents and that the Belgorod residents are indebted to them."

4/ State Duma deputy Adam Delimkhanov, a Kadyrov ally and head of the Chechen branch of the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia), has even said that the Chechens will cross the border from Belgorod and "liberate Ukrainians from the LGBT, satanist and fascist regime."

5/ A rather different picture comes from regular Russian soldiers stationed on the border, who says the Chechens are holding positions at the rear. According to the 'Pepel' Telegram channel, there are 5 "echelons of defence" (i.e. defensive lines) along the Belgorod border.

6/ The channel reports that "military officials with knowledge of the situation at the border say that volunteers from the Akhmat regiment have occupied "at best echelons 3 to 5". The first two defensive lines, which are on the border itself, are held by Russian conscripts.

7/ The Chechens are reported by a pro-war Russian Telegram channel to have "refused to take up positions in the areas bordering Ukraine, justifying this by the fact that they plan to control the situation and not fight infiltrators".

8/ The mother of one of the conscripts says that the Chechens have been placed near her son's position, with FSB border guards also in the area. They all regularly come under Ukrainian fire.

9/ She says the Chechens are "shocked that they [conscripts] are positioned there." The conscripts are literally in the front line as a kind of human tripwire (see thread below), while "Akhmat is just an extra force if it's critical". /end

https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1661835326837633024

10/ Sources:
🔹 t.me/horizontal_rus…
🔹 t.me/flashpoint_new…
🔹 t.me/belpepel/2011
🔹 t.me/belpepel/2024