Just an hour's drive from this city under siege, at an old resort on the Azov Sea that's now a military base, militants from Chechnya - veterans of the jihad in their own lands and, more recently, in Syria - now serve in what's called the Sheikh Mansur Battalion. Some of them say they have trained, at least, in the Middle East with fighters for the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS.
The Daily Beast: Chechen Jihadis leave Syria, join the fight in Ukraine
Syrian army soldiers get in position during clashes with Islamic State (IS) group jihadists in northeastern Palmyra on May 17, 2015.
