During World War II, he collaborated with Nazi Germany and served in Cossack collaborationist units, for which he was repatriated to the Soviet Union and executed by hanging in 1947.

[3] Klych-Girey participated in the government crackdown on the Russian Revolution of 1905,[1] and was serving in the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division when World War I began.

[3] On 25 March 1918, he was promoted to major general and commanded the Circassian Cavalry Regiment [ru][1] (though true power allegedly rested with Sultan Adil-Girey, a colonel serving in the unit).

[4] After the evacuation of the Crimea, Klych-Girey was instructed by Pyotr Wrangel to travel to Karachay [ru] and organise "white-green" resistance to Soviet rule.

He began by participating in anti-partisan reprisals in occupied Yugoslavia before shifting his focus to the North Caucasus after German troops entered the region in 1942.