Chechens and the Stigma of Serving Russia in Ukraine
From the very beginning of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, there was serious concern about Putin’s use of Chechen and Syrian soldiers in the battles. Specifically, Chechens were and are employed by Russian army commanders in serious conflicts and massacres because it is not easy for Russian soldiers to fight and kill their fellow countrymen. Images and documents of Ukrainians being massacred by Chechen soldiers, alongside the fiery speeches of their leader Ramzan Kadyrov, have painted a dark picture of Caucasian Muslims.
From Soldier Hesitation to Soldier Shortage
The start of the aggressive battle by the Russians was the announcement of a special operation in Ukraine, which meant that Putin did not want to officially declare war. To this day, he has refrained from officially declaring war on Ukraine. Such a development means both fighting with fellow Russians and entering a wartime state for Russia. Russian citizens, as well as various political and economic elites, cannot accept such a situation. In non-war conditions, recruitment can be done by hiring soldiers or sending conscripts to the battlefield. Under economic sanctions, the Russian army pays high amounts to hire soldiers, and naturally, soldiers from all walks of life and age groups have been recruited. This expense of hiring soldiers is one of Russia’s problems. However, the main and most important issue is that Putin started a battle as a special operation, which was supposed to see Ukrainians welcoming their Russian brothers with open arms, Ukraine being occupied, Volodymyr Zelensky being killed, and a Moscow-appointed leader being installed in Kyiv. This did not happen. Russian soldiers repeatedly showed serious hesitation in fighting Ukrainians. By the third and fourth months of the invasion, it was clear that Russia was suffering casualties and needed more recruits.
Kadyrov and the Chechens on the Battlefield
At the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ramzan Kadyrov announced that Chechens would not join Russian soldiers, and exactly the day after, the dispatch of Chechens began. Within weeks, numerous videos and documents of Chechens fighting Ukrainians in bloody battles were released. One of the bitter cases was the release of a series of videos showing a Chechen unit fighting a small, exhausted group of Ukrainian resistors, after which the Chechens held a congregational prayer following the massacre of Ukrainians. These reports and documents, alongside the dissemination of evidence of Russia bringing Syrian mercenaries into the Ukrainian battlefield, seriously damaged the image of Muslims in Eastern Europe.
Real and Unreal
In recent months, many of the war crimes in Ukraine were committed by Chechens, but Russia itself played a significant role in the widespread dissemination of documents related to Chechen crimes. Gradually, some concluded that Russia attributed many of the massacres committed by its soldiers to the Chechens. Recent investigations have shown that only 53% of the soldiers Kadyrov sent to Ukraine in his units are Chechen and Muslim. Ukrainian security teams themselves have released documents on this and warned that Russians are attributing their crimes to the Chechens, although there is no doubt about the disaster of forcing Chechens to commit numerous crimes in Ukraine by the Russians.
The End-of-July Catastrophe
Russian activists on social networks, who publish images and videos of Ukrainians being killed to intimidate and influence the people of Ukraine, released images of a mutilated Ukrainian soldier at the end of July, which was the most unprecedented example of war crimes published in Ukraine. The violence of this event was so severe that the special investigative team that discovered the identity of the killers did not dare to broadcast the videos, although Russian activists repeatedly published these videos for intimidation. The aforementioned investigative team managed to identify the main killer and the agents involved in the violent murder of the Ukrainian captive. Unfortunately, members of the Akhmat military unit, Chechen forces, were responsible for this disaster.
It is hoped that a serious change in the approach of Islamic countries towards Russia’s aggression in Ukraine will occur, and at least the opportunity to influence Russia’s policy of using Chechen and Syrian soldiers will be provided.