Photo of a Person-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (PBIED) of a Chechen Sheikh Mansour volunteer in Bakhmut, which would be detonated to avoid capture by the Russians. As Calibre Obscura explains, the device is comprised of explosives and a UZRGM fuze in magazine pouches. The fuze is universally used in many Russian grenade types and also allows for varied delay times, ranging from instant detonation up to 13 seconds. For a suicide vest, it will likely be set to instant detonation.
TIL the Sheikh Mansour guys fighting in Bakhmut have made small PBIEDs to avoid capture by the Russians
(Made from mag pouches, HE, det cord, and the ever present UZRGM fuze) pic.twitter.com/Nz23W8UIvi
— C?????? O?s???? (@CalibreObscura) December 23, 2022
The Sheikh Mansour Battalion, named after the Chechen leader who fought against Russian imperialism in the Caucuses in the late 1700s, is primarily made up of veterans from the First and Second Chechen Wars. For them, fighting against Russia in Ukraine is a continuation of their Jihad. This is unlike Chechen fighters loyal to Ramzan Kadyrov, who are fighting for Russia as part of their National Guard.
I just want to note that I don’t know how widespread this is or will be. Since the start of the invasion, I have not seen any instances of Chechen fighters using suicide vests in combat, but this might change due to the situation in Bakhmut.
