Men in Chechnya are fleeing abroad to avoid being called to fight in Ukraine as casualties increase among forces led by Ramzan Kadyrov, the tough Chechen leader.
Residents of Chechnya, a republic in southern Russia, told The Telegraph that the growing number of burials of local fighters and the sight of badly wounded young men were turning some people against the war.
A woman in Grozny, the Chechen capital, told of a funeral where four bodies were found.
“They were from Kadyrov’s regiment, which was fighting in Ukraine,” she said. “I’m very upset because I knew them.”
This apparent change in support, albeit from only a small minority of the Chechen population, is important because Kadyrov and his fighters – who swear personal loyalty to him and are known as Kadyrovsky – are key allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin has banned talk of war and used the euphemism “special operation” instead.
The woman in Grozny said the difficult economic conditions in Chechnya were pushing men to volunteer in Ukraine.
Nobody in Chechnya is happy about that
“People agreed to this dangerous job because of the hopelessness of things here,” she said. “But no one knew they would die in someone else’s special operation.
Grozny has been rebuilt since being destroyed by the Russian army in two wars in the 1990s and early 2000s. However, the pain of these wars is still fresh.
Another woman in Grozny said she was against the war because she had lost relatives in the Chechen wars. Another said her son had returned from Ukraine badly injured.
“He’s been crying all day,” she said. “His leg was torn off by a shell. Of course, no one in Chechnya is happy with this special operation.”
Signs Z and V of Russia’s main battle groups in Ukraine, now adopted by pro-war supporters in Russia, are pasted on buildings in Grozny. Apparently, there are posters of Kadyrov in military uniform and calling for volunteers everywhere.
Recruitment is based on cash and loyalty to Kadyrov and Putin. Putin is popular in Chechnya because he financed the reconstruction of the region after declaring victory in the second Chechen war from 1999 to 2000. He kept the region stable by allowing Kadyrov to crush dissidents and rebels.
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