20 Chechens Returned from Ukrainian Captivity. They Said They Surrendered Without a Fight 0 14

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, reported that during a prisoner exchange conducted by Russia and Ukraine on February 5, 20 natives of Chechnya returned home.

Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel that his team had long been working on the issue of returning Chechens. The head of Chechnya mentioned that he discussed this with the President of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Kadyrov met with him in January when the UAE president visited Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin.

"Overall, efforts to return captured servicemen are being carried out by us on a constant and systematic basis," Kadyrov stated. He added that his team "will continue to do everything possible to facilitate the return of Russian servicemen home."

The servicemen from the "Akhmat-Chechnya" regiment, who were captured in the Kursk region, returned from Ukrainian captivity, reports "Agency." In captivity, they recounted that their officers abandoned them and they surrendered without a fight. For instance, 36-year-old serviceman Zaur Chaarov said that after the start of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' offensive in the Kursk region, "the commander and deputy commander, the deputy chief of staff — four or five people, they immediately ran away, into the forest."

Another Akhmat member, Magomed Zarakhmatov, recounted that he was captured on August 14 in the village of Sverdlikovo: "They drove up to us, surrounded us. We voluntarily surrendered, did not resist, why?"

As noted by the publication "First Page," in previous years Kadyrov criticized Chechens who were captured. In February 2023, the head of Chechnya told "Grozny-Inform" that "Chechens do not surrender to captivity." In April of the same year, Kadyrov refused to meet with five Chechens who returned from captivity. "I believe that a Chechen warrior should have no reason to end up in captivity," the head of the republic stated at that time.

The commander of "Akhmat," Apti Alaudinov, said in September 2024 that he would not attempt to extract from captivity Chechens who "surrendered voluntarily." However, as "Agency" points out, at the end of 2024, a native of Chechnya, Akraman Askhabov, was returned from captivity. He was captured wearing a sweatshirt resembling a model from the brand Stefano Ricci, costing over two thousand dollars.