Chechen commander signals deployment and drone shipments for Iran escalation - RFU News

[TexasTowelie]

Today, there is dangerous news from Iran.

Here, Russia is showing readiness to deploy Chechen forces to Iran as an addition to strike drone shipments aimed at helping the Iranian regime against the USA and Israel. However, such a move is set to be a devastating provocation for the American side, which could easily backfire and merge the two conflicts into one big war.

Russian-aligned Chechen forces have indicated they are prepared to be deployed to Iran to support the Islamic Republic as part of a Russian support campaign. The commander of the Akhmat unit, Apti Alaudinov, said Chechen troops are waiting for an order from Vladimir Putin to counter US forces in Iran. By stating this openly, the Chechen command puts pressure on the Russian president and starts a dangerous push towards a direct clash between Russia and the United States, beyond the indirect war through Ukraine, as Russia claims.

This development comes in addition to news about Russia aiming to transfer upgraded Shahed drone technology to Iran. Throughout the ongoing war, Iran attacked its neighboring Gulf countries with older variants of the Shahed drones with smaller warheads and obsolete communication systems, most of which were successfully intercepted. As the war in Ukraine progresses, Russian engineers refined the Shahed significantly, effectively producing a new variant that is more capable of avoiding detection and overloading even the Ukrainian layered air-defense systems. These updated drones are gradually equipped with Mesh communication transmitters, which provide a reliable connection, onboard surveillance cameras for real-time navigation, and larger warheads to increase damage. At the same time, the Russian military changed its approach from launching drones in wide, scattered waves to focusing multiple strikes on a smaller number of specific targets. This approach helped exhaust air defense resources while increasing the overall effectiveness, and Iranian forces may now copy this tactic to penetrate layered air defense networks.

Russia has previously used Chechen units as expeditionary forces supporting its operations abroad. Notably, Chechen forces played a significant support role in Russia's intervention backing Bashar al-Assad in Syria, starting with informal offers from Kadyrov in 2015 and formal deployments after 2016. Initially, about 500 military police personnel from Chechen battalions were sent to Aleppo to oversee rebel evacuations, distribute humanitarian aid, and police the city. However, Chechen units have seen their most extensive foreign use in Ukraine, as early in the invasion, they attempted high-profile operations, such as assassinating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and fought in key battles like the siege of Mariupol, where they were supposed to supplement stalled Russian advances. Roles shifted from frontline assaults to rear operations, such as policing Russian-controlled territories, supporting local Russian-installed authorities, and serving as barrier troops against undermotivated Russian troops. If deployed, due to internal tension in Iran, they could again serve as such to maintain cohesion between different armed forces and help the regime stay in power.

Receiving combat-experienced Chechen fighters with updated drone technology from Russia would boost Iran’s security and strike capabilities. These two are complementing each other, as the Chechen fighters could prop up Iranian ground troops, defend border areas, or help to suppress anti-government protests, while the drones enhance Iran’s deep strike capabilities to exploit gaps in the Gulf states and Israel’s layered air defenses by overwhelming them with saturation attacks and focusing on specific targets.

However, unfortunately for the Iranians, because of the war in Ukraine and the heavy losses of personnel and equipment there, Russia has limited options to help Iran decisively. Still, the Russian government is keen to at least signal its readiness to do so, to save face after already betraying and losing numerous global allies, with the latest being Venezuela.

Overall, the Chechen deployment talks and technology transfers mark a new stage of Russian involvement in the war in Iran. So far, Russia’s help has been only rhetorical, condemning the attack and asking for de-escalation, which didn’t help Iran against the relentless Israeli and U.S. bombardment. Now, Russia’s help might materialize, more as a shock and annoyance to...

[OC375]

1. LOL

When I see dead Chechens in the rubble, outside of Iran state media, I'll believe it. Putin definitely puts on his oxygen mask on before the kids.