After reports about Aguev's death, Kadyrov shows him in video

Two days after Akhmed Dudaev, the head of the Chechen Ministry of Press, denied reports about the death of Rustam Aguev, the head of the Kurchaloi ROVD (District Interior Division), the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said that Aguev and other Chechen commanders were "in perfect health" and showed them in a video.

On January 5, Dudaev announced that Rustam Aguev, who is in Ukraine, is alive, and called reports of his death and the involvement of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, therein to be a fake.

"Rumours appear" on the Internet about deaths of commanders from Chechnya, but they are not true, Kadyrov has stated. "In recent days, news has been spread the alleged deaths of one or another commander from Chechnya in the SMO zone <...>. Our brave commanders are in perfect health and in good spirits," Kadyrov wrote in his Telegram channel.

The "Caucasian Knot" has also reported that on June 28, 2022, Kadyrov announced the creation of the "Zapad-Akhmat" battalion manned by residents of Chechnya, subordinate to the Southern Military District of the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD). Ismail Aguev was appointed commander of this battalion. On October 19, Kadyrov, while speaking about the trip of his children to the SMO zone, said that they talked with the fighters of the "Zapad-Akhmat" battalion and with officers Ismail and Rustam Aguev.