When I was doing my initial research on the Chechen War a few years ago, I came across an interesting autobiography about an American mercenary named Aukai Collins who packed up his things and traveled to Chechnya to take up arms against the Russians.  I must admit, it was one of the most interesting and captivating true stories I’ve read about the war or any war in quite some time.    From intense firefights, to finding a Chechen girl whom he marries to opting to have his leg removed so he could have better mobility in future fights, Aukai Collins proves himself to be quite an interesting fellow.  We follow him trying to sneak his way into the country by attaching himself to some dangerous characters in the bordering country of Azerbaijan, hooking up with the resistance in Grozny and trekking across Chechnya fighting the Russians along the way.

The story takes the turn toward the fantastical when he admits to being approached by the FBI once back in the USA, and the book turns into some sort of spy tale.  He even mentions meeting Hani Hanjour in a CIA training camp inside the USA, which begs the question, was more or one of the 9/11 hijackers really CIA assets?  All amazing stories that are hard to verify without talking to Aukai, who incidentally has a bounty on his head from the Russian government at this point.  Inevitably, pre 9/11 his story is harrowing and he seems like a true hero defending his people’s struggle; post 9/11 through no fault of his own, he is lumped in with the murderous sect of radical muslim terrorists.  He says as much in his book that he himself laments this fact that his religion is used to murder civilians and for the most part I am inclined to believe that he is more of a defender of all civilians and not a terrorist.  Before 2001, the term JIHAD would not be associated with the greatest threat America has ever had, in fact the American CIA were helping the Jihadists fight the Russians in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and other countries where they needed assistance clandestinely.  9/11 changed the meaning of Jihad and now it is seen as a rally cry of our greatest and most elusive enemies.

The book leaves Aukai stuck in a Mexican prison and for the best of my knowledge that’s where he still is.  My attempts to try and contact the co-author of this book to find out what exactly happened to Aukai met with no response from him.  So, verifying this story was completely impossible. But, I’m inclined to believe most if not all of it and to a large degree Aukai has gained my respect as a human being and soldier more than anything, religious beliefs and allegiances aside.

Read a preview of MY JIHAD here

This video started out to be a straightforward hand to hand combat instructional, but by the end of the video, this instructor pulls out some crazy techniques involving advanced self defense methods. The craziest part is where men just start to fall down from the power of his mind! He doesn’t even touch them, they start to feel dizzy and fall down. Maybe this video is a fake, but 90% of it seems like some serious self defense methods, then the telekinesis part is what really astonishes me.

Very interesting report on the conflict in Ingushetia, neighbor of Chechnya, which by this account is turning into just a threat for Russian federation forces as Chechnya was in the recent past. We follow Maksharip Aushev in his describing of the situation in his country as insurgents Russian forces for independence. He tells the story of his own son being rounded up off of a train by Russian intelligence for choosing not to become an informant. He goes on to report that this is a common occurrence in Ingushetia. He organized a rally in protest of these extra-judicial kidnappings and the men were freed, only to find himself in prison for six months.

This video shows a lot of insurgent footage of both Chechen and Ingush mujahideen fighters taking up arms both in Chechnya and Ingushetia against the Russians. In all, a good video that shows how the Chechen War has spilled over into bordering states of the Russian Federation, a clear sign that the conflict is far from over and more Muslim and non muslims are willing to continue the struggle at any cost.

Story of Speznaz “Vimpel” lieutenant colonel Dmitry Razumovsky, who died 03/09/2004 saving hostages form 1-st Schoolin Beslan. This video is Russian, but from what I am able to glean from the visuals, is that this is the story of Beslan told from the viewpoint of the Spetsnaz commandos which helped rescue hostages that day. There are multiple parts to the documentary that delve into Dmitry Razumovsky’s life, training, and eventual sacrifice at School Number 1 in Beslan.

In my research into the Russian Spetsnaz “special forces” units I came across this interesting set of videos about the training Spetsnaz go through.

The video shown here exemplifies almost super human abilities to not feel pain or even be inflicted by injuries from knife attack, broken glass, or burns from fire. While I don’t question the authenticity of the feats that are carried out here, I do question its effectiveness in battle. Especially in light of how many Spetsnaz troops are killed in operations such as Beslan and the untold amount who were killed or captured in the years of fighting in Chechnya. They are elite, some of the best in the world, no question, but what is at work here? Magic? Superhuman abilities? You decide.

Another awesome video about “No Contact Combat” where it seems the instructors are using their attackers’ energy against them instead of using a striking blow with their body at all. Vadim Starov is really a master at this idea of No Contact Combat and it seems almost too good to be true that you can defeat an attacker without touching them.

In this final video, Vadim Starov shows us methods of using wave energy to take down attackers as far as 15ft away! Most people comment and call it staged, I still don’t know. Russian scammers or truly an amazing form of martial arts? Here is a video of Gene Lebell, founder of MMA attesting to the authenticity of Starov’s methods, another staged meeting? You decide.

Interesting video of a Spetsnaz Sniper laying down cover for Russian Engineers that find and diffuse a roadside bomb. It seems this is one of the major threats facing Russian security forces and Militia members in their fight against the Chechen Rebels. Not sure what the sniper in this video is shooting at or if he hit anything but you can be sure that since the bomb does not seem like a pressure activated device, that the rebels aren’t too far off waiting to detonate it remotely. Good video, it turns out well for all those involved.

Perhaps someone can help with the translation, because this video does not show us much except that a man with a camera is in the middle of soldiers running around and near the final seconds of the video he drops the camera. I can only infer what is happening and has happened by the title of the video and the sounds of semi-automatic fire followed by sounds of an automatic Kalashnikov.

Once again I can only infer much of what is going on in this video from the title we are provided by whoever uploaded it. All we can see is Chechen Rebels, some very Arabic looking, are praying in white BDU’s to camoflauge them in the snow, before they sneak up on Russian security forces position and start a firefight. We do not see much in terms of effectiveness of this attack, just the Rebels firing on non visible targets to the camera. It ends with them pulling back with what seems like no casualties whatsover.

Here is some more First Chechen War footage, showing various operations by the resistance fighters in and around Grozny around 1994-1996.

The end of the video shows a Russian Soldier or someone obviously not a muslim (blonde hair, Russian looks) “converting” to islam and joining the resistance.

A BBC Reporter is yards away from being blasted away by Russian Artillery shell. We see a civilian isn’t as lucky as he is severely hit and bleeding profusely. A few other civilians are bleeding pretty bad too.