Christopher Helali, an elected county official in Vermont and co-founder of the American Communist Party, announced Tuesday that he had joined Russia’s Akhmat special forces after signing a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense and completing three weeks of military training.
In an October 20 announcement, Helali said his training covered trench warfare, reconnaissance, combat medicine and explosives. He claimed to be the first American and Western citizen accepted into the unit and the first elected U.S. official to join a foreign military while still holding political office.
Helali also thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Akhmat commander Lieutenant General Apti Alaudinov, along with instructors he identified as members of the Wagner Group, Russian airborne forces and other Russian military formations.
Alaudinov separately confirmed Helali’s entry into Akhmat, stating that the American had completed training, signed a military contract and joined the formation under the call sign “Vermont,” according to Russian media reports published October 20.
The announcement marks a new development in Helali’s political activities, which have included founding an American communist organization, meeting U.S.-sanctioned Russian ideologue Aleksandr Dugin, attending the funeral of Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon and publicly expressing support for Iran’s government.
Co-Founder of the American Communist Party
Helali was among the founding participants of the American Communist Party (ACP), an organization established in July 2024 by communist activists and online political personalities.
A contemporaneous statement published by the Communist Workers’ Platform USA identified him as one of ten members of the party’s founding Plenary Committee.
Other founding figures included political commentator Jackson Hinkle and online personality Haz Al-Din, both associated with the movement commonly described as “MAGA communism,” which combines Marxist-Leninist economic positions with nationalist themes and opposition to American foreign policy.
The ACP is separate from the older Communist Party USA.
Before helping establish the new organization, Helali ran unsuccessfully for Vermont’s sole congressional seat in 2020 with the backing of the Party of Communists USA.
Helali has also been identified as the ACP’s international secretary, a role associated with the organization’s overseas political relationships.
His activities in Russia preceded his military enlistment. He has publicly discussed contacts with Russian communist officials, including meetings with figures associated with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.
Meeting U.S.-Sanctioned Russian Ideologue Aleksandr Dugin
Just over a month before announcing his enlistment, Helali publicly shared a photograph of himself alongside Aleksandr Dugin, the Russian nationalist philosopher and advocate of a geopolitical order challenging Western influence.
In his September 17 post, Helali described Dugin as a great professor.
On the same date, Helali posted about the fourth congress of the International Russophile Movement, a Moscow gathering attended by Russian political figures and international delegates. The precise location where his photograph with Dugin was taken has not been independently established.
Dugin has been under U.S. sanctions since March 2015.
In its sanctions announcement, the U.S. Treasury Department identified him as a leader of the Eurasian Youth Union, an organization it said had actively recruited people with military and combat experience to fight for Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The organization was also accused of claiming a covert presence inside Ukraine.
The meeting is notable in light of Helali’s subsequent military announcement, although no evidence reviewed establishes that Dugin personally recruited Helali or facilitated his contract with the Russian military.
On October 18, two days before Helali announced his enlistment, a Telegram post attributed to Dugin praised Akhmat commander Alaudinov while discussing traditional Islam and Russian identity.
In the post, Dugin wrote that Russians embraced the form of traditional Islam represented by figures including Alaudinov, whom he described as “our brother,” while rejecting modernity.
The statements establish Helali’s public association with Dugin and Dugin’s expressed admiration for the Akhmat commander, but do not demonstrate coordination between them.
Hezbollah Funeral, Yemen Visit and Public Support for Iran
Helali’s connections extend beyond Russian political circles.
In February 2025, Helali attended the funeral in Beirut of Hezbollah leaders Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine. He appeared alongside fellow American Communist Party figures Jackson Hinkle and Haz Al-Din.
He also acknowledged traveling to Houthi-controlled Yemen to participate in a conference concerning Palestine organized by the Houthi authorities, according to his July interview with VTDigger.
In July 2026, Helali traveled to Iran to attend ceremonies honoring the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
While there, he publicly invoked his position as an elected Vermont official and shared an image of himself in front of a banner calling for President Donald Trump’s death.
Helali told VTDigger that he had not explicitly endorsed the message displayed on the banner, explaining that he shared the image because he considered it provocative.
He was nevertheless explicit about his political support for Tehran.
During the visit, Helali described his purpose as defending Iran and demonstrating solidarity with its government against American imperialism and Zionism.
He also characterized Iran’s confrontation with the United States in religious terms, publicly describing it as a holy war.
These activities preceded his decision to join a Russian military formation involved in the war against Ukraine.
Claims of Being Placed on the U.S. No Fly List
Helali has also publicly claimed that the U.S. government placed him on its No Fly List. In a social media post, he displayed what appeared to be a September 29, 2026, letter from the Department of Homeland Security’s Traveler Redress Inquiry Program.
The displayed document stated that he had been identified as an individual who may pose a threat to civil aviation or national security, citing federal aviation security authorities.
The language is consistent with the government’s established redress procedures, under which individuals may receive confirmation of their No Fly List status. However, the authenticity of Helali’s particular letter has not been independently verified.
Helali said he sought clarification after being prevented from boarding a flight from Beijing to Mexico City in June 2026, when he was traveling to cover Iran’s national soccer team during the World Cup.
He had previously told VTDigger that he believed he was on the list and that the resulting travel restrictions could complicate any return to Vermont to perform his public duties.
Russian Military Training and Wagner Personnel
Helali’s October 20 announcement described a three-week course covering conventional battlefield skills, reconnaissance, combat medicine and explosives.
He specifically thanked instructors he identified as belonging to the Wagner Group, the Russian private military organization whose fighters participated extensively in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The identities and organizational status of those instructors have not been independently verified.
Following Wagner’s 2023 mutiny and the death of its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, former Wagner personnel were incorporated into other Russian formations, including Akhmat-linked units.
Akhmat operates within the broader Russian military apparatus associated with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Its commander, Apti Alaudinov, also serves as a senior official in Russia’s Main Military-Political Directorate.
Russian reporting citing Alaudinov confirms that Helali completed training and signed a military contract before joining Akhmat. However, the signed contract itself has not been publicly authenticated, and Helali’s precise training location, the identities of his instructors and any subsequent operational assignment remain unconfirmed.
The announcement was also highlighted by the Fulk Intelligence Report, which has previously examined Helali’s activities within Russian political networks.
Helali’s enlistment represents a significant development in his public trajectory, from communist political organizing in the United States and participation in events associated with Russian and Iranian political figures to service in a Russian military formation engaged in the war against Ukraine.
For Vermont, it presents an unusual situation: an elected American official residing in Moscow, publicly supporting foreign governments opposed to U.S. foreign policy and now serving under a Russian military contract acknowledged by the commander of his unit.
Whether his enlistment has consequences for his remaining term in public office, his legal status or his ability to return to the United States remains unresolved.