Abachev’s appointment and military background
Esedulla Abachev, a 58-year-old Daghestani Lieutenant General, became a senator for the occupied part of Ukraine’s Luhansk region. The administration of the head of Daghestan announced the appointment on Wednesday. Abachev graduated from the Kharkiv Guards Higher Tank Command School during the Soviet era and participated in the Second Chechen War, the August 2008 war, and Russia’s military operation in Syria. He led units that captured Lysychansk in the Luhansk region following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In July 2022, President Vladimir Putin awarded him the title of Hero of Russia. In March 2024, Russia’s Defence Ministry identified Abachev as deputy commander of the Leningrad Military District. In September 2022, Ukraine’s Security Service accused the general of encroaching on Ukraine’s territorial integrity and "planning and waging a war of aggression against the country" while he commanded the Second Army Corps of the People’s Militia. In August 2025, reports stated the general sustained serious wounds in a Ukrainian strike. Sergei Melikov, the former head of Daghestan, said Abachev was in "serious but stable condition" at a Russian military medical centre. While Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence claimed the general lost an arm and a leg, Russia did not confirm these amputation reports.
Other military appointees and North Caucasus senators
The Russian Senate includes North Caucasus representatives like Suleiman Kerimov, Ilyas Umakhanov, Mokhmad Akhmadov, Krym Kazanokov, and Taymuraz Mamburov, who has represented his republic since 2015. Each region has two senators. In 2024, the Senate appointed Amir Argamakov, a soldier in Ukraine and Syria, to represent the Altai Republic and Yuri Nimchenko, a Hero of Russia, to represent annexed Crimea. Aleksei Kondratiev switched to represent the Tambov region in September 2025. In October 2026, Yevgeny Savvin, also a Hero of Russia, became a senator for the Lipetsk region. According to Vedomosti, Savvin was the only war veteran to join the upper house following the 2026 regional elections. Abachev’s appointment to the Luhansk region, where he has no ties outside his 2022 military activities, is a blatant attempt to install combat veterans in the Senate. This follows moves such as Sergei Melikov, the former head of Daghestan, becoming a senator for Russia’s Bryansk region this year.
