Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has announced that it filed charges against Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov for war crimes linked to his comments on Ukrainian prisoners of war made last October.
The charges were pressed against Kadyrov on Monday, with the SBU basing its evidence on statements made by Kadyrov in which he urged his subordinates not to take Ukrainian soldiers captive but to kill them on the spot. He cancelled this order three days later.
In addition, in December, Kadyrov instructed his subordinates to place prisoners of war on the roofs of military facilities in Grozny to use them as a ‘human shield’ against Ukrainian drone strikes. He made this statement after a Ukrainian drone struck the Special Forces University in Gudermes, Chechnya. At the time, he claimed that Ukrainian citizens had been killed in the strike, alleging that prisoners were being held in the building partially damaged by the drone.
These actions have been classified as a violation of the laws and customs of war, which contravene the provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The SBU notified Kadyrov of the charges in absentia under Part 1 of Article 438 of Ukraine’s criminal code, which provides for punishment for cruel treatment of prisoners of war.
The SBU emphasised that the actions recognised as violations of international humanitarian law are being documented and that new evidence continues to be collected.
The criminal case is being conducted under the procedural guidance of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, and investigative measures include a range of steps aimed at bringing Kadyrov to justice for crimes against the Ukrainian people and state.
The relevant article of Ukraine’s criminal code under which the charges were filed provides for a sentence of between eight and twelve years in prison.
The suspicions against Kadyrov are not the first attempt to hold him accountable for war crimes. In August 2022, the SBU had already charged him with waging an aggressive war and supporting Russia’s territorial expansion into Ukraine. Similar charges were also filed at that time against Daniil Martynov, deputy head of the Russian National Guard in Chechnya, and Hussein Mezhidov, commander of a tactical group of the 249th Separate Motorised Battalion.
In March, RFE/RL reported, citing Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, that more than 150 Ukrainian prisoners of war were being held in Chechnya.
Kadyrov has long been the subject of criticism by human rights organisations for numerous violations of human rights, including disappearances, torture, and the persecution of opponents.
Elizaveta Chukharova
