Paul Goble
Staunton, May 25 – Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov has repeatedly celebrated the exploits of Chechens as members of Russian forces in Ukraine, but ever more evidence is surfacing that many Chechens serving there are not the volunteers he claims but have been forced to go to Ukraine because of threats of criminal prosecution and imprisonment.
That suggests that the view of many that Chechens are enthusiastic about fighting for Russia in Ukraine is at a minimum an exaggeration and more likely nearly a complete falsification of the situation (kavkazr.com/a/v-chechne-muzhchin-pohischayut-na-voynu-protiv-ukrainy-kak-kadyrov-ischet-soldat-dlya-putina/31867239.html and graniru.org/War/Chechnya/m.285211.html).
And the new evidence the Kavkazr portal assembles shows that ever more of those being forced to go to Ukraine should be excused from duty because they are handicapped or otherwise disqualified, an indication that Kadyrov to keep up his own reputation is having to use ever more repressive means to keep the 2500 Chechen troops fighting on the Russian side.
These reports also provide additional support for earlier findings that many of the troops Grozny claims and Moscow media celebrates as fighting for Russia in Ukraine are in fact ethnic Russians not Chechens and they bear responsibility for war crimes many blame on the Chechens (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/06/only-53-percent-of-kadyrovs-forces-in.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/05/many-incorrectly-and-unfairly-classify.html).
Grozny’s use of force to compel Chechens to fight for Moscow has a long history. It was, for example, well-documented in 2014 when Vladimir Putin first sent his forces into Ukraine (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2014/05/window-on-eurasia-grozny-forcing.html). And their unwillingness contrasts with the readiness of anti-Moscow Chechens to fight for Ukraine (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/03/for-kremlin-imperialists-chechens-who.html).
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