A commander with the call sign Ratibor and 3,000 former fighters of the now-defunct Wagner Private Military Company will join the Akhmat special forces group, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov announced, Paralel.Az reports citing TASS.

"A decision was made for a Wagner commander with the call sign Ratibor to join the legendary Akhmat special forces commando unit. As many as 3,000 ex-Wagner fighters will join the special forces group with him," Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel. The Russian Defense Ministry has already opened the necessary number of vacancies to recruit soldiers, he added.

According to the Chechen leader, the fighters will soon start accomplishing combat tasks. He described the corresponding decision as a strategically important step toward strengthening the country’s defense capabilities and enhancing the group’s efficiency.