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Chechen fighters leave Syria to battle Russians in Ukraine

Abdul Hakim al-Shishani, a veteran of the Chechen-Russian war in the 1990s and commander of the Ajnad al-Kavkaz group fighting Syrian government forces in Latakia, arrived in Ukraine with a group of Chechen fighters to battle Russian forces.
Abdul Hakim al-Shishani, commander of the Ajnad al-Kavkaz group (circled in red) with a Chechen fighting unit, Oct. 15, 2022.

Al-Monitor has learned that the commander and members of Ajnad al-Kavkaz, a Chechen-led Islamic rebel group active in northern Syria, headed to Ukraine to fight against the Russian forces there. 

Sources from within jihadist groups in Syria told Al-Monitor that Chechen fighters from Ajnad al-Kavkaz fighting Syrian government forces in the countryside of Latakia recently arrived in Ukraine from Idlib, where they fought the Syrian government alongside the opposition. 

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