As the Russian invasion of Ukraine will enter its sixth month at the end of the week, the Russian military faces a growing need for troops. In Chechnya, to achieve the Kremlin’s objectives, the authorities resort to questionable methods, according to defenders of human rights.
Although dissolved by the Russian authorities four months ago, Memorial has maintained numerous contacts in Chechnya. For several weeks, the NGO has received information that the security services are kidnapping men there and forcing them to sign up to join the ranks of volunteers to fight in Ukraine.
Alexandre Tcherkassov is the chairman of the board of directors of the Memorial Human Rights Center: The Chechen police arrest people who previously appeared in some files and they offer them: “You can write that you want to become a volunteer or you can pay, or you can go to prison”. »
According to information collected by Memorial, the ransoms range from 250 to 500,000 rubles, or 4,400 to 8,800 euros. The Russian regions were given the goal of forming battalions of about 400 men between the ages of 18 and 60. An objective that the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov obviously takes very seriously.
” In each region, a battalion of volunteers is organized. In Chechnya, we are going to organize four battalions of volunteers. Ramzan Kadyrov often shows that he is the first participant in this war, in all aspects. “says Alexander Cherkassov.
In his recruitment campaign, Ramzan Kadyrov can also count on Chechen religious dignitaries who describe the Russian military operation in Ukraine as “jihad”.
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