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Islamic State-trained militants are fighting alongside a state army in a European country, the Times reports – but that detail is buried in an article talking about how Putin is a common enemy of Ukrainians and Chechens.
Framed as an inside look at what’s driving Chechens to join Kyiv’s “anti-terrorist operation” against the breakaway republics in the east of Ukraine, the Times article has a few juicy quotes from one Mansur, a member of a voluntary battalion made up of Chechens.
The Chechen battalion in Ukraine – known as the Sheikh Mansur battalion – operates effectively outside the law. Its leader, Muslim Cheberloevsky, says it’s not subordinate to the army or the police – which is a legal requirement for any paramilitary organization in the country.
This isn’t the first time that the Sheikh Mansur battalion’s links to IS have surfaced. In September, Ukraine extradited one of the group’s fighters to Russia, where he was wanted by the FSB.
