A former Chechen military commander, Isa Munajev worked as a boxing trainer in the Zealand town of Birkerød before heading to eastern Ukraine in August to once again fight pro-Russian separatists. 

 

According to the reports, Munajev was killed on Sunday while fighting in Debaltseve, an eastern Ukraine town that the Kyiv Post reports holds a “strategic rail and road junction”.  

 

Munajev was in charge of a battalion of 15 masked fighters in eastern Ukraine. Six of those come from Denmark, and five of the six hold Danish citizenship. 

 

See also: Danes fighting against Russia in Ukraine

 

In an October interview with Berlingske, Munajev said that his team of Danish fighters will continue to fight the pro-Russian separatists. 

 

“They have been in war. They have participated in battles and they will continue to do so,” he said about his small team of Danes.

 

In another previous interview, Munajev made his feelings clear about Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

 

“I am Putin’s worst enemy and I am proud of it,” he told TV2 News. 

 

Munajev fought for the independence of his native Chechnya against Russian forces in the 1990s. He came to Denmark in 2007 with his wife and their four children.