Historic footage from the First Chechen War shows Russian forces on the back of what appears to be a T-72 engaging with Chechen fighters.

While today Chechen forces are operating with the Russians in Ukraine, it's important to note that this was not always the case. In the 1990s, the Russians militarily invaded Chechnya to take control of the nation and install their own puppet government. It took them almost ten years and two separate wars to achieve their military objectives in the region, and following that completion they fought against an active insurgency in the region until 2009.