The Kadyrovites originated in 1994 as a Chechen separatist militia under Akhmad Kadyrov, and fought against the Russian Armed Forces for the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the First Chechen War.
The term Kadyrovtsy is commonly used in Chechnya to refer to any armed, ethnically- Chechen men under the control of Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov - although nominally they are under the umbrella of the National Guard of Russia. 141st Special Motorized Regiment named after Hero of the Russian Federation Akhmad-Khadzhi Kadyrov ( Russian: 141-й специальный моторизованный полк имени Героя Российской Федерации Ахмата-Хаджи Кадырова, romanized: 141-y spetsial'nyy motorizovannyy polk imeni Geroya Rossiyskoy Federatsii Akhmata-Khadzhi Kadyrova), also known as the Kadyrovites and the Kadyrovtsy (from Russian: Кадыровцы, lit.'Kadyrov's followers'), is a paramilitary organization in Chechnya, Russia, that serves as the protection of the Head of the Chechen Republic.
