In an interview with Online.UA, Abu Yunus, a volunteer of the Chechen Battalion named after Sheikh Mansur, who serves in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, spoke about how many Turkmenistan citizens joined the Russian army and their motivation for participating in the war against Ukraine.
Points of attention
- Turkmen volunteers are fighting in the Russian army against Ukraine because of citizenship and material motives.
- The Russians' chauvinistic attitude towards the Turkmen continues to be tolerated in the Russian Federation.
- Volunteer Abu Yunus talked about selecting new fighters for the Battalion named after Sheikh Mansur and his military experience.
- The combat test of a volunteer from Turkmenistan during the war with the occupiers was successful and without casualties.
Citizens of Turkmenistan are fighting in the Russian army against Ukraine
Abu Yunus revealed the motivation of his compatriots who serve in the Russian army.
Quite a lot is fighting [on Russia's side]. First of all, Russian citizenship [is the motivation — ed.]. If there was faith, they would not have gone to kill someone without having the right to do so. Religion forbids. If there is no faith, then what? Interest, only in money and citizenship. Nothing more.
I was in Russia in 1999. At that time, I was a "churka" for them, and I am the same now. Turkmen go to war, hoping to get citizenship and stay in the Russian Federation. They (Russians — ed.) will still say tomorrow that you are a "churka".
Abu Yunus
Sniper of the volunteer battalion named after Sheikh Mansur
As for the conflict of languages, volunteer Abu Yunus is satisfied that the young Turkmen generation has weak Russian knowledge.
The current generation knows little of the Russian language. This is very gratifying. Here, if you take citizens of my age, they almost all know (Russian — ed.). And if you take young people over the age of 20, many of them don't know. Here are my children, for example, only one daughter knows, the rest do not.
Abu Yunus says even Turkmen who do not know the Russian language well "still, even though they do not understand (the language—ed.), they support the Russians."
Not all volunteers are selected for our battalion
If volunteers come, for example, many want to, but we don't take all of them. All must be verified. We select only specific people who are acquaintances of soldiers from our battalion and can trust them. It is very difficult to get to us.
Abu Yunus shared how new volunteers came to the battalion named after Sheikh Mansur.
Indeed, we do not have any compulsion. It is voluntary. I have a certain task, I can take it, or I can refuse it. We understand everything very well, there are cases when, on the contrary, they are offended that they were not taken on the task.
According to the volunteer, "No one tells anyone whether you are a coward or not; we all perfectly understand that everyone wants to fight."
I was not accepted for the first task, for example. They said I don't have enough experience yet. I insisted on taking me for the second task. Then they already gave me a machine gun. There was a task in Brovary, a village there that we liberated. These orcs, the invaders, sat down there. And then I was assigned to cover my brothers.
Abu Yunus recalls that the combat test passed without any casualties.
Three tanks were knocked out (Russian—ed). They were chased away. It was Velyka Dymerka. We released this village. This is how my first assignment went.
