Azerbaijani student reportedly captured by Russian troops in Mariupol

A 20-year-old Azerbaijani student has reportedly been captured by ethnic Chechen Russian troops in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol as he was attempting to flee the country.

Reports of Huseyn Abdullayev’s capture emerged on social media on 18 March, claiming that he was taken hostage by Chechen troops fighting for Russia.

In a telephone call with his family, Abdullayev reportedly said that he had been tortured and beaten and was left in a bad condition.

Amin Abdullayev, Huseyn’s father, told OC Media that his son had been given a pistol by the militants, and was forced to film an apology video framing him as a volunteer fighter and not a civilian.

The 20-year-old student from Neftchala left for Mariupol to pursue a degree in ecology three years prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

His father said that he made contact with his son on 5 March and that he had been taking shelter in the basement of his university’s dormitory.

‘We thought that he was on the road and could not call us due to the situation’, said his father. ‘Later, we saw on social media that Huseyn was captured by Russian troops in Ukraine’.

Following the reports about their son’s captivity, the Abdullayevs were received by Neftchala’s executive, who promised he would liaise with government agencies to free Hussein from captivity.

Previously, the Abdullayevs appealed to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs only to be denied entry.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Baku similarly turned the family away, asking what their problem was at the entrance and promising to relay their petition to the ambassador.