The Economist: Kadyrov does not want to send Chechens to war

Despite loud statements by the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, that he fully supports the course of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in practice he avoids the mass dispatch of Chechens to the war in Ukraine.

This was reported by the online publication The Economist on Tuesday, August 11.

"Whatever Moscow's interests in Ukraine may be, we are infinitely far from them," the outlet quotes the words of its anonymous interlocutor close to the leadership of the Chechen Republic. Although Ramzan Kadyrov calls himself "Putin's foot soldier," he understands the situation perfectly well and does not want to sacrifice the population of the republic for the sake of the "Russian world," this source added.

In April, Kadyrov stated that more than 70,000 troops had been prepared in Chechnya for dispatch to the front. According to The Economist, that is 9% of the entire male population of the republic. Meanwhile, journalists doubt the truthfulness of such data. Citing the calculations of the online publication "Mediazona," the outlet recalls that since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine and up to July 10 of this year, only 539 deaths of Chechens have been confirmed.

"That is 0.2% of the total number of Russian losses, while Chechnya accounts for 1.1% of the population of the Russian Federation," the authors argue.

According to The Economist, until today Kadyrov has managed to prevent the forced mobilization of Chechens for the war in Ukraine. This has allowed him to strengthen his image as the "father of the nation" who protects his people, the publication says.