11 May 2023, 22:58
Kadyrov's attitude towards POWs is contrary to Caucasian traditions
The return of prisoners of war (POWs) from captivity back to the special military operation (SMO) zone and public apologies for their captivity became part of the intimidation of Chechen fighters, Oyub Titiev, a human rights defender, has noted. In the Caucasian historical tradition, captivity is not regarded as something shameful, Patimat Takhnaeva, a researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), has pointed out.
On April 15, 2023, Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya, announced the return of five Chechen POWs from Ukrainian captivity. At the same time, he refused to meet them and criticized them for surrendering. On May 8, one of the POWs, who had returned from captivity, publicly apologized to Kadyrov for surrendering.
The case with an apology for captivity and a statement about the need to "redeem the captivity with blood" can be seen as a toughening of the attitude towards the surrendered Chechen fighters by republic's authorities, Oyub Titiev, a rights defender, believes.
Patimat Takhnaeva, a historian and Orientalist, is sure that the historical tradition has such notions like "honorary captivity" or "inglorious captivity".
Akhmet Yarlykapov, an expert on the Caucasus, has pointed out that captivity cannot be regulated by customs.
"Adats regulate people's daily lives, but the captivity, like military operations in general, is an emergency situation," he believes.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that another Chechen fighter, who had returned from captivity, again went to the SMO zone in Ukraine. On November 9, 2022, Kadyrov announced that Kirgiz Musikhanov, who had returned from captivity, returned to Grozny, and had been treated in Moscow. The head of Chechnya has added that after recovery, Musikhanov intends to return to the SMO zone.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 10, 2023 at 03:39 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: СK correspondent
