Men detained en masse in Chechnya to be sent to war after attack on Russian Guard convoy

The Memorial Human Rights Protection Centre said that after the attack on a Russian Guard convoy in Chechnya on 24 October, men were detained en masse to be sent to war against Ukraine. [The Chechen Republic, also known as Chechnya, is a federal subject of the Russian Federation; the Ukrainian parliament has recognised it as the temporarily Russian-occupied territory of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria – ed.]

Source: Memorial

Quote from the human rights activists: "Security forces in Chechnya are carrying out ‘cleansing operations’ after the attack on a Rosgvardia convoy on 24 October. Men are being detained to be sent to war."

Details: According to the human rights activists, on 26 October, Rosgvardia and Interior Ministry officers began to conduct door-to-door visits, checking documents and taking men fit to be sent to war to police stations for the slightest violation of the rules and regulations in force in Chechnya. There, their phones were confiscated, and if information was found on them about visits to Telegram channels opposing the Chechen authorities, they were immediately detained.

According to Memorial, the detainees were offered a choice: to go to the front or face criminal proceedings.

It is reported that hundreds of people were detained in the Grozny district of the republic (the convoy was attacked near the village of Petropavlovskaya in the Grozny district). At the same time, their relatives do not want to say anything for fear of worsening the fate of their loved ones.

However, the human rights activists were able to learn in detail about at least one such case. It is about a resident of the town of Argun, where "cleansing" began on 31 October.

During the week, the security forces came to the home of 42-year-old Rizvan Batyrov, who has a disability and lives with his 82-year-old mother, four times. During the second visit, the man and his mother were taken to a police station, where Batyrov's passport and phone were taken away. Later, they were both released.

During the last visit, on 3 November, the security forces beat the man, took him to a police station, and told his relatives that something illegal had been found on his phone. It is noted that the man is still detained, and it is currently unknown what is happening to him.

The human rights activists say that Batyrov "seems to be a healthy and strong man", and the reason he was detained is that "they want to send him to war".

Memorial also suggests that the attack on the Rosgvardia convoy could have been organised by the security forces themselves in order to carry out "cleansing operations" and gather people to send to war against Ukraine.

Background: On 24 October, it was reported that a Rosgvardia convoy was attacked in the Grozny district of Chechnya, leaving one of the soldiers dead and injuring another. The attackers disappeared.

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