Speaking after a drone attack on Tuesday, Oct. 29 set fire to buildings on the Russian Special Forces University campus near the Chechen city of Gudermes, Ramzan Kadyrov said, after initially claiming the building was empty, that it had been housing Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) who were killed by the strike.
Kadyrov suggested that the attack had been carried out by Ukrainian forces despite international commentators saying there was strong evidence it had been carried out by Dagestani irregulars as “a continuation of a previous confrontation with Chechen forces.”
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An Oct. 24 attack by unknown gunmen was carried out on a Ural truck carrying personnel from Rosgvardia, Russia’s National Guard, near the Chechen village of Petropavlovskaya. This was thought to be linked with Kadyrov having declared a so-called “blood feud” against three politicians from neighboring Dagestan and Ingushetia.
Asked why he thought the university had been attacked Kadyrov said it was obvious: “The training center is a forge of highly effective fighters who successfully apply skills in the most difficult sectors of the front. They have the merit of taking hundreds of important strategic settlements, facilities and borders [in Ukraine].”
Kadyrov was quoted by Russian media as saying, without producing any evidence, that: “… there are no casualties on our side as a result of the attack. But there were among Ukrainian prisoners of war. In its effort to damage us, Kyiv killed its own soldiers.”
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He went on to say that “From now on, Ukraine has to realize that such attacks first and foremost harm its own citizens,” before adding: “Up to 10 Ukrainian prisoners of war are held at each strategic facility in [Chechnya], including the Russian Special Forces University.”
He further compounded his statements that, if true, amount to war crimes by saying that that he had issued orders to all Chechen units fighting for Russia in Ukraine to no longer accept Ukrainian soldiers surrendering claiming: “I ordered my commanders who are fighting on the front line to not take prisoners.” Adding that they should, “…kill all enemy forces and to step up the fighting.”
There have been more than 100 documented cases of Russian troops executing Ukrainian prisoners since the start of the 2022 full-scale invasion although Ukrainian authorities believe the actual number of such murders to be much higher as many incidents occur in the absence of supporting evidence.
In January, Kadyrov is said to have published a list of the names of 20 Ukrainian POWs that “were taken in Donetsk and Luhansk” and that he was prepared to release in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions against his family members.
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