Russian-Chechen special forces to deploy to Syria
Special forces from Russia’s Republic of Chechnya have been deployed to Syria where they are tasked with protecting Russia’s Khmeimim air base in the province of Latakia, Izvestia reported.
The “East” and “West” special forces units of the Russian Ministry of Defense, which are based in Chechnya, were created in 2003, and are informally known simply as the Chechen special forces.
The special forces units have extensive combat experience in both mountainous and urban areas, the former being similar to the terrain around Latakia.
The units have been active in helping mollify the Chechen Republic, and were also been deployed to Lebanon in 2006 where they provided security for Russian engineers. The Chechen special forces also saw extensive action during the Georgian War of 2008.