Commander of Russia's Chechen Special Forces Killed in Ukraine

A Russian commander who had been fighting in Ukraine since the war began has been killed in action in the Donbas region.

Yevgeny Pisarenko, commander of the Chechen armed formation known as Akhmat, was pronounced dead on Monday by two fellow soldiers. He went by the nickname "Big," which can also be translated as "The Great" in a Russian context.

"Thanks to the parents who raised such a Hero...A BIG man with a BIG heart!" Akhmat unit commander Apta Alaudinov wrote on Telegram, according to a Google translation.

Pisarenko served as part of President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" that began on February 24, 2022.

"The loss of a whole battalion would be a serious blow to [Chechen leader Ramzan] Kadyrov's Akhmat Regiment—the 141st Special Motorized Regiment, also known as the Kadyrovites," Mikhail Alexseev, a political science professor at San Diego State University, told Newsweek via email.

"The loss of a capable commander is also of course a blow.

"On the other hand, as the war goes on Russia's fighters also gain experience and so new commanders will arise to replace those who were eliminated."

Putin was recently presented with grievances by fighters on his own side when Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin led his mercenaries as part of a 24-hour mutiny in Moscow.

The action, which Prigozhin seems to have somewhat walked back in new statements issued from Belarus, has been mentioned by Putin in two separate speeches.

Akhmat commissar Dmitry Kulko also posted on Telegram to celebrate the life of Pisarenko, who had the call sign "Bolshoi."

"Big was my fellow countryman, he served in the Stavropol OMON for many years, received the rank of colonel," Kulko said, according to a Google translation. "When the special operation began, he volunteered for the front to protect the inhabitants of Donbass."

OMON is a special purposes mobile unit in Russia's National Guard. It has taken part in military battles in Chechnya dating back to the First Chechen War of 1994-96.

Kadyrov has pledged allegiance to Putin throughout the war. The Chechen leader's loyalty was on display again in the aftermath of the Wagner Group's coup attempt, as he not only defended the Russian president but also mocked Prigozhin's troops in the Bakhmut region—a hotbed of fighting for more than one year.

Kadyrov has not mentioned Pisarenko on his own Telegram page, which is followed by over 3 million accounts. He did heap praise on Alaudinov, however, for his leadership and on the special forces personnel currently operating in the area of Kreminna and Bilohorivka, both in the Luhansk region.

Akhmat mercenaries were the first Russian fighters to officially sign contracts on video following an order issued by the Russian Defense Ministry in June saying that all "volunteer formations" had to sign a contract by July 1 "to increase the effectiveness of their deployment," according to Ukrainska Pravda.

Alexseev said the fighting around Kreminna and Bilohorivka, referred to by Ukraine General Staff as the "Svatove direction," would show in due time whether Russia can withstand Ukraine's counteroffensive.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry via email for comment.

Update 07/05/23, 11:45 a.m. ET: This story was updated to add comments from Mikhail Alexseev of San Diego State University.