Esedulla Abachev

1990s to 2000s

Following his graduation in Kharkov, he was given the rank of lieutenant and was assigned to the Soviet Armed Forces in the 78th Tank Division. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he became a commander of a tank company within the 21st Separate Tank Battalion of the 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division for Russia in the mid-1990s. As commander, he was assigned to the North Caucasus Military District of Russia, and his unit saw action in the Second Chechen War and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He then decided to pursue higher education, and in 2002 graduated from the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. After graduation, he was assigned to be the head of the logistics service and later commander of a regiment for the 78th Tank Brigade, and during that time, he again saw action during the Russo-Georgian War in 2008.

2010s to 2022

In 2014, Abachev was finally transferred from the 78th to being commander of the 19th Motor Rifle Division, which was based in the city of Vladikavkaz. During his time commanding the brigade, the 19th was stationed during the Russian intervention in Syria. Unofficially, however, they were accused by Ukrainian sources of supporting the War in the Donbas. Although they did not cross the border, Abachev's units were said to have been stationed in the Matveyevo-Kurgansky District of Rostov Oblast (which is a couple of kilometres from Donetsk Oblast), and to have stationed combat vehicles like BM-21 Grads there. He was officially dismissed from the post in 2017 and replaced by Colonel Roman Vyazovsky. Afterwards, he was reassigned to be Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander of the 5th Guards Combined Arms Army in Ussuriysk, a role Abachev would work until 2021.

In 2021, Abachev was given the role of plenipotentiary representative of the Ministry of Defense of Russia in the Republic of Dagestan. Just before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, he was again reassigned to become Deputy Commander of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army within the Southern Military District.

2022-2026: War in Ukraine

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Abachev was immediately assigned to be the commander of the 2nd Army Corps of the People's Militia of the Luhansk People's Republic. As a participant in the so-called "special military operation" (SVO), he was assigned alongside the troops of the Central Military District of Aleksandr Lapin to the Battle of Lysychansk. Lapin and Abachev together successfully enclosed the city in a ring, leading to what the Russian Ministry of Defense called a mass surrender, although Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the troops had already been ordered to retreat prior to save their lives.

In February 2023, he was promoted to lieutenant general in the Russian Armed Forces. Three months later, he was appointed deputy commander of the Western Military District.

In March 2024, he was reappointed as Deputy Commander of the restored Leningrad Military District under Lapin, who was chosen as commander. As Deputy Commander, he was assigned to command the Kursk direction, and he prewarned Lapin about the Kursk campaign and their plans to cut off the Belgorod region about the 2023 Belgorod Oblast incursions, although Lapin did not listen. On the night of 16-17 August 2025, it was reported that Ukrainian troops had managed to fire a missile strike and seriously injure troops near the Rylsk and Khomutovka highway in Kursk Oblast, including Abachev. The highway is near the Ukrainian border, about 15 kilometres away, and the settlements near it were ordered to undergo mandatory evacuation in September 2024. He was later transported by plane to the Vishnevsky Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow, where his arm and leg were amputated.