Russian Troops Shoot, Stab Each Other After Fight Breaks Out: Ukraine Group

A skirmish broke out on Saturday between two military units fighting for Russia, which resulted in shots fired and the deaths of 20 soldiers, according to a Monday report from the National Resistance Center of Ukraine.

The center, created by the Armed Forces of Ukraine soon after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion in February 2022, reported the fight occurred in the Russian-occupied village of Mykhailivka in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The two sides involved in the confrontation were a formation of Chechen forces fighting for Putin and a unit from Russia's Dagestan republic, the center said. Newsweek could not independently verify the report.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has long been a close ally to Putin, and he's had men deployed in Ukraine throughout the war. Chechen forces reportedly became more involved in the conflict in recent months following Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's disputes with Russian military officials, which eventually led to his failed mutiny against Moscow.

According to the National Resistance Center, Russian media had come to Mykhailivka on Saturday to film a story on a high-ranking official in Kadyrov's forces. That night, a verbal altercation between Kadyrov's troops and the unit from Dagestan progressed to violence, and one of the men reportedly opened fire in the air with a small automatic gun.

Another soldier was said to soon be "inflicted with numerous stab wounds." The fighting only intensified from there, and an "open confrontation" broke out between the two sides involving grenade launchers and more automatic weapons.

According to the National Resistance Center of Ukraine, the unit from Dagestan came out on top in the fight. However, 20 soldiers were killed from both sides and more than 40 men were wounded.

"The commander of the Kadyrov unit (probably with the rank of colonel) was sent to the front lines as punishment," the National Resistance Center wrote.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) via email on Monday for comment.

While Chechen's forces in Ukraine haven't received as much media attention as Putin's formal Russian military, the death last month of the commander of a Chechen armed formation known as Akhmat garnered international headlines.

The commander, Yevgeny Pisarenko, was pronounced dead on July 3 by Chechen military leader Apta Alaudinov. According to Alaudinov, Pisarenko died while fighting on the front lines in Donbas.

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