New flag of “Akhmat” special forces battalion highlights its loyalty to Russian authorities

The Orthodox cross on the flag of the “Akhmat” special forces came into conflict with the secularism declared in Russia, but showed the real state of affairs in the “Akhmat” special forces battalion and its loyalty to the country’s leaders, analysts believe.

The “Akhmat” special forces flag presented by Apti Alaudinov is a combination of the impossible, states Chechen political analyst Ruslan Kutaev.

“From their point of view, this is a reformation, but he is trying to make a synthesis of the impossible. The synthesis of Muslims and Orthodox Christians. And out of that, he wants to get the army of Christ. Well, it is clear that if it is the army of Christ, then it fights against the army of the Antichrist. If Muslims and Christians are together, then who are they fighting against? Against pagan Chinese or against Jews, or against Satan? There are things that cannot be agreed upon,” Chechen political analyst Ruslan Kutaev claimed.

The political analyst calls all that “word-mongering.” “This is a figment of the Apti Aronovich’s imagination, and nothing more. Like in a kindergarten, this is a very appropriate analogy. Children are saying something, and their teacher is watching. He finds their games funny, but he does not interfere with the children’s activities so that they can fool around and do their own thing. Well, let them do that, it does not change anything. Both within the Russian Federation itself and at the front line,” Ruslan Kutaev noted.

The Chechen political analyst believes that Chechnya has become a hub for military training not of its own free will and regardless of the special military operation in Ukraine, because “the training centre was created in Gudermes long before <the special military operation>.” And the task was to prepare military personnel who could be used by the federal authorities in the Caucasus. But when the special military operation (SMO) began, they simply used this centre in Gudermes. “I do not think that this training centre is a specially conceived operation to implement some ideas on involving Chechnya,” Ruslan Kutaev believes.

According to his version, in general, the use of Orthodox or any other religious symbols on the banners of military units formally contradicts the laws of the Russian Federation.

“Indeed, the secular country cannot do something like that. However, with all that, one thing can be proclaimed, and in fact, in reality, the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate has active influence. It is financed, and it plays a political role in the life of Russia. But other confessions are just, let’s say, agents of influence of the Russian special services, who carry out operations on the spot. They are not some kind of actors of political force. They are an instrument that carries out the decisions made,” the Chechen political analyst emphasized.

Andrei Kolesnikov*, a columnist of the “Newtimes.ru” publication, has also stated that the secularity of the Russian state contradicts the presence of religious symbols on flags.

“This state has not been secular for a long time, since religion is used both as part of the de facto state ideology and as part of propaganda technologies. It is especially important to emphasize the unity of confessions in the ‘common cause’ of the battle with the West,” Andrei Kolesnikov* pointed out.

The “Akhmat” special forces battalion has already become a regular part of the Russian army, emphasizes political analyst Sergei Boyko, an employee of the Adam Smith Research Centre.

“It is no secret that the majority of the ‘Akhmat’ special forces battalion are not Chechens, but Russians, who sign contracts for military service because of high remuneration. Therefore, the appearance of a Christian cross next to Islamic symbols fully reflects the current state of affairs. Furthermore, this is a signal to the federal centre that the Chechen authorities support the concept of Russian citizens as a multinational and multi-confessional unity,” Sergei Boyko told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent. The political analyst has suggested that “after major losses in 2022, the regime of Ramzan Kadyrov is trying to protect the Chechens themselves.”

The religious symbols on the flags and coats of arms of various countries do not pose a threat to the secular nature of the state, believes human rights defender Oleg Orlov*, the co-chair of the “Memorial”** Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD).

“We know that the flags and coats of arms of Norway, Finland, Switzerland, and a number of other countries have crosses on them. The flags of countries with Muslim populations bear Islamic symbols. At the same time, there is the example of France, which prohibits the display of religious symbols, including in government institutions. However, in general, traditional images of religious symbols do not contradict the concept of secularism,” human rights defender Oleg Orlov* told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

As for the new flag for the “Akhmat” special forces battalion, demonstrated by Apti Alaudinov, this, as the human rights defender suggests, is entirely consistent with the situation in the battalion.

“The ‘Akhmat’ special forces battalion is associated with Chechnya only by its name and by the fact that it is commanded by Apti Alaudinov. At the beginning of the special military operation (SMO), Ramzan Kadyrov wanted to highlight the active participation of Chechens in it, but soon the majority of fighters in the ‘Akhmat’ special forces battalion were not Chechens at all. Therefore, it is quite natural that they added the Orthodox symbol to the military unit’s banner,” human rights defender Oleg Orlov* noted.

Another human rights defender familiar with the situation in Chechnya claims that Chechen military units have long been parts of military formations of the Russian Federation and are loyal “willy-nilly.”

“Both the ‘Akhmat’ special forces battalion and all other such military units are all Russian bodies, and there will be crosses on their flags. This does not depend on the Apti Alaudinov’s wishes,” the human rights defender believes.

At the same time, Russian units in the country’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) system do not use the Orthodox cross on their banners, as follows from the data of the monitoring conducted by the “Caucasian Knot”.

This was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 27, 2025 at 09:35 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

**As reported on the website of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the reason for including on March 1, 2024, the unregistered “Memorial” Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD) into the register of foreign agents was the spread of “inaccurate information aimed at creating a negative image of the Russian Federation, as well as the Russian Armed Forces.”