The award and a criminal history
Vladimir Putin signed a decree on 28 July 2026 to posthumously award the Hero of Russia title to Zelimkhan Batukaev, a commander in the Akhmat Unit. On Thursday, his mother, Taus Batukaeva, received the Gold Star medal in Grozny. I find it contradictory that the state honors a man convicted in December 2016 of the armed robbery and murder of a 34-year-old taxi driver. In December 2016, Batukaev and two accomplices were sentenced to 19 years in a strict-regime penal colony after they killed a 34-year-old taxi driver in Krasnodar by strangling him with a cord and stabbing him at least 13 times. The attackers stopped the taxi on 16 March because they claimed they wanted to travel to Kropotkin, and they stole the driver’s personal belongings and car, which they sold in Chechnya. The crime caused damage exceeding ₽940,000. Batukaev also faced a conviction in 2011 involving illegal arms trafficking. Chechen Prime Minister Magomed Daudov described the convicted killer as a "brave warrior and a true officer" during the award ceremony.
Military service and conflicting death reports
Batukaev, who used the call sign Shustry, commanded a motorized rifle battalion of the 4th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade of the 3rd Combined Arms Army of Russia’s Southern Military District. He joined Chechen militants seeking Ichkeria’s independence in 2005 and spent two years in the mountains before switching sides to work with Russian authorities. NIYSO claims Batukaev provided the authorities with names of everyone who helped the armed underground. He joined the Wagner private military company after recruitment in prison and later joined the Akhmat Unit under Apti Alaudinov. I note his rapid accumulation of military honors, including the Order of Courage in October 2023 and the Akhmat Kadyrov Order in January 2024. Batukaev died on 23 February 2025, and while Alaudinov claims he died from a brain hemorrhage after three days without sleep on a combat mission, NIYSO representatives allege he died from a drug overdose. NIYSO announced his death a day before Alaudinov did. In August 2024, Batukaev filmed a video threatening a member of the NIYSO movement, stating, "You and your family will never live in this yard again. This yard will be given to me, and I will build a big house here."
