Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov has suggested that Ukrainian POWs should be used as human shields at potential military targets.

Kadyrov made his suggestion during a meeting with Ukrainian POWs prior to a live broadcast on Chechen television on Wednesday. A fragment of this meeting was later published on his official Telegram channel. 

‘We need to put them [Ukrainian POWs] on the objects that American satellites have photos of, we need to put them on the roofs of these objects, let them guard our territories,’ Kadyrov said.

Kadyrov’s suggestion was made one day after a drone attack on the building of the second regiment of the Akhmat Kadyrov special police force in the Chechen capital Grozny. Kadyrov confirmed the attack on Wednesday, which was not officially reported, in a live broadcast, claiming that there were civilian casualties.

During Wednesday’s live broadcast, Kadyrov offered a gun to one of the Ukrainian POWs to shoot himself. The prisoner refused, stating that he wanted to live.

‘Why? It’s war, people are being killed. You came out to kill, to die. I'll give you a gun, you shoot yourself, die like a hero. You don’t want to, do you?’, Kadyrov insisted.

About a hundred Ukrainian POWs attended the meeting with Kadyrov where they appealed to the Ukrainian authorities for assistance. One POW claimed that he had been in Chechnya for almost two years. 

Kadyrov previously stated that Ukrainian POWs had been placed at strategic facilities in Chechnya back in late October, following a drone attack on the Russian Special Forces University in Gudermes. According to Kadyrov, while the roof of the building caught fire as a result, the only casualties were Ukrainian prisoners. 

‘There are up to ten Ukrainian captives at each strategic facility in the republic, including at Russian Special Forces University. Kyiv, trying to harm us, killed its own soldiers today,’ Kadyrov said.

At the same time, he instructed commanders on the front line not to take Ukrainian soldiers prisoner. However, he later cancelled this order, after receiving ‘requests from thousands of Ukrainians.’

Chechen authorities and the Russian Defence Ministry did not report Tuesday’s drone strike for over 24 hours. However, photos, the authenticity of which was confirmed by OС Media, show a large amount of damage to the roof. In addition, the opposition telegram channel Niyso reported that there was an accumulation of ambulances.