On October 29, Ukrainian politician, deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, representative of Ukraine in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Alexey Goncharenko, announced the creation of a battalion of Dagestanis named after Imam Shamil as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The unit was headed by Magomet Seipulaev.
“A battalion of Dagestanis named after Imam Shamil has been created, which will fight for the liberation of Dagestan. The battalion will first help Ukraine, and then we will help Dagestan. It is very important that the peoples of the Caucasus and all the enslaved peoples of Russia have their own national battalions as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On the basis of these battalions, in the future it is possible to create liberation armies that will liberate their land and their peoples. Freedom can only be achieved with weapons in hand!” - the parliamentarian wrote on his Facebook page.
“We started the fight with Russia long before this, 10-15 years ago. In Ukraine, they decided to continue, since what has affected us for more than 100 years has now affected [Ukraine],” the Kavkaz.Realii publication quotes Saipulaev.
Several ethnic units are already fighting on the side of Ukraine, including the Chechen - since 2014 - battalions named after Dzhokhar Dudayev and Sheikh Mansur. According to Islam Belokiev, speaker of the Sheikh Mansur volunteer battalion, Dagestanis have already fought as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Crimean battalion and volunteer detachments. “But during the discussions, the idea arose that they needed their own leader, their own battalion. I think it will be successful, because many Dagestanis want to fight Russian aggression,” he said.
According to the Ukrainian publication Fakty, the unit will specialize in sabotage.