Noah Krieger, a Chechen-born lawmaker recently expelled from Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, said he has joined the Russian military and published photos and footage of combat from Ukraine.
Born Murad Dadayev, Krieger shared an Instagram update on Thursday, July 2, featuring combat footage marked with the location Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
The update was accompanied by captions written in Russian, in which he said he visited the front and added that he “[would] not allow this internal evil and external enemy to destroy Russia.”
“I’m not writing these lines from a distant office or using someone else’s voice. I came here personally, seeing with my own eyes what’s shown on television and what’s not mentioned in the news,” he wrote.
In a subsequent update on Saturday, he shared footage of himself taking part in an assault on motorcycles, with the location marked as Ukraine’s Kherson region.
The update was accompanied by a poem written in Russian, in which he talked of honor and “[becoming] a wolf.”
While it’s unclear when he joined the Russian military, he posted an update on June 11 in which he appeared in military attire adorned with Chechen insignia and carrying a rifle.
That particular update was accompanied by a German caption.
“Praise to the mighty warrior of God, honor to the noble warrior, purest hero of the people. For the German people and fatherland! God with us,” he wrote, concluding it with the flags of Germany and Russia.
Polish Far-Right Alleges Secret Patriot Missile Transfer to Ukraine
Who is Noah Krieger/Murad Dadayev?
Dadayev was a Chechen member of the Lower Saxony branch of Germany’s far-right AfD party.
Dadayev has described himself as the “first Chechen in German politics” and has taken a stance against migration. In April, the AfD confirmed that it had launched proceedings to expel him without specifying the reason.
The decision followed investigations by Russian outlet iStories and the German outlet Correctiv, in which Dadayev was shown to have extensive ties with Chechnya’s regime under Ramzan Kadyrov.
Dadayev previously visited the Chechen parliament and was seen dining with Zamid Chalaev, the commander of a special police regiment named after Kadyrov, the outlets said.
The unit has been linked by human rights groups to extrajudicial killings in the Caucasian enclave.
He was also seen presenting Chechnya’s deputy prime minister with a Luftwaffe dagger bearing a swastika, a symbol banned in Germany except for defined historical or educational purposes.
Dadayev claimed to have obtained German citizenship through naturalization in 2024 and to have changed his surname, which he said belonged to his German wife.
Russian civil registry records show that he is married to a woman from his home village in Chechnya, but he has publicly claimed to have multiple wives.
Dadayev’s brother was convicted of killing a critic of Kadyrov in Vienna in 2011, according to Radio Liberty, though Dadayev claimed he was no longer in contact with his brother.
AfD’s pro-Kremlin stance
The AfD has previously been accused of harboring Russian sleeper cells and supporting Russian interests in German politics.
The party has consistently opposed military aid to Kyiv, voted against arms deliveries, called for lifting sanctions on Moscow, and aligned with Kremlin narratives that frame Russia as a negotiating partner rather than the aggressor.
In June, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz accused AfD lawmakers of maintaining close ties with Moscow and mocking Ukraine’s suffering during a heated exchange in parliament.
Dadayev’s ties to Chechnya also posed security risks to Germany.
Germany has previously been hit by incidents linked to Chechnya’s internal power struggles, including the high-profile daylight killing in Berlin of a former commander in the Chechen war – widely believed to have been sanctioned by Moscow. The assassin was later released in a Turkey-brokered prisoner swap.
The party is also said to have considered ousting Tim Schramm, a 22-year-old AfD member who fought for Ukraine, though it is unclear whether the decision was carried out.
You can also highlight the text and press Ctrl + Enter
