Fewer North Caucasians have Fought in Ukraine than Many Think, But Chechnya’s Kadyrov has Gained Power from the War, Memorial Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 11 – In a study of the impact of Putin’s war in Ukraine on the North Caucasus, the Memorial human rights organization draws two important conclusions: On the one hand, fewer North Caucasians have fought for Russia in Ukraine than many think; and on the other, Chechnya’s Ramzan Kadyrov has gained new power as a result of the conflict.

            The organization presents both conclusions in its latest quarterly report on the region (memorialcenter.org/uploads/Byulleten_polnyj_2_dce46dc2a0.pdf), a report Radio Liberty’s Natalya Kildiyarova discusses in detail (kavkazr.com/a/kadyrov-poluchil-boljshe-vlasti-pravozaschitniki-ob-uchastii-kavkaza-v-voyne-s-ukrainoy/33754254.html).

            According to Memorial, “Chechnya occupies one of the last places among regions regarding the number of combat deaths per 1,000 residents – 0.30. In Ingushetia, this metric stands at 0.43, in Dagestan, at 0.62, and in Kabardino-Balkaria, 0.67. The figure for Russia as a whole is 1.35; and in Tyva, it is 5.24.”

            The only North Caucasus region where combat deaths relative to population was higher than that for Russia as a whole was North Ossetia. There it stood at 1.80 per 1,000 residents. Memorial suggests that is connected with “a developed tradition of military service” and “the basing in the republic of units of the 58^th army.”

            These figures undercut the widespread assumptions that Chechens and other North Caucasians are fighting and dying in Ukraine in disproportionate numbers and that before their deaths, are responsible for crimes of various kinds against the civilian population of that country, the human rights organization says.

            According to Memorial, there are several reasons for this relatively low level of participation of North Caucasians in Putin’s war, including memories of Moscow’s wars against Chechnya, anti-war attitudes among many nations in the region, and the relatively large shadow economy in the North Caucasus which makes signing up for the military less attractive.

            But Chechnya’s Ramzan Kadyrov has acquired the reputation in Moscow and elsewhere as someone who has mobilized his own people for the war and thus has gained even more support from the Kremlin and thus more power to act as he likes, building up military forces to be used primarily at home against his personal opponents, Memorial suggests.

            The Chechen leader has done so by falsifying figures of Chechen participation in the fighting in Ukraine, reporting multiple short-term visits to Ukraine by his loyalists as separate individuals and thus giving the impression to the world and especially to Putin that he is better at mobilization than in fact is the case.