Chechnya hit by drone strike for first time, special forces university damaged

A drone attack targeted Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Chechnya on Oct. 29 for the first time during Moscow’s war against Ukraine, according to claims by dictator Ramzan Kadyrov and media reports.

The drone strike hit the building of the Russian Special Forces University named after Vladimir Putin in the city of Gudermes, the independent news outlet Agentstvo reported.

Footage shared on social media shows significant damage and a strong fire at the university’s main building, Agentstvo noted.

Kadyrov claimed that the strike, which took place at 6:30 a.m. local time, hit the roof of the university’s empty building, starting a fire but causing no casualties. The fire had been extinguished, the Chechen dictator said.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims. Ukraine has not yet commented on the reported attack.

While the Russian state media wrote that the university was built in 2016, the institution’s management said that it was still under construction as of 2023. The facility was presented by Kadyrov as a multifunctional complex that combines modern methods and techniques of special forces.

Putin visited the university in August this year. According to a statement on the Kremlin’s website, the Russian president “inspected the training complex, observed classes, spoke with special forces commanders, instructors, and volunteers undergoing training there.”

Pro-Kremlin Chechen fighters (“Kadyrovites”) have been fighting on Russia’s side since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion. In turn, anti-Russian Chechen volunteers have also joined the war on Ukraine’s side, forming several formations like the Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion.

A group of Russian National Guard service members reportedly came under fire from unknown attackers near the region’s capital of Grozny on Oct. 24, leaving one soldier killed and another injured.