Kadyrov called on the US to lift sanctions in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners of war

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, during the visit to the republic of the former American military officer, now a commentator of the pro-Kremlin Russian mass media, Scott Ritter, gave him a list of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Chechnya and declared that he was ready to hand them over to their relatives in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions. This was reported by Russian state agencies on Friday.

The head of the republic talked about his proposal to build security forces in Grozny – there they also showed a video appeal in which people, presented as prisoners, ask to lift “absurd sanctions that do not affect anything” from those close to Kadyrov in exchange for 20 Ukrainian servicemen. who were taken to Donetsk and Luhansk”. The head of Chechnya said that he is ready to release the captives if the USA “lifts the sanctions against my mother, my daughters, and innocent people and horses,” reports Kavkaz.Realii.

Kadyrov’s Telegram channel published a message about the results of the visit to Grozny by Ritter, who is known, as the head of Chechnya notes, “for his consistent criticism of US foreign policy, as well as the actions of the Ukrainian side.” At the same time, the post does not say that Kadyrov gave Ritter a list of prisoners.

• In September 2022, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Kadyrov’s wife Medna, Fatima Khazueva, who is called his second wife, Aminat Akhmadova, who is considered his third wife, daughters of the head of Chechnya Aishat, who holds the post of the republic’s minister of culture, Karina (Khadizhat), who heads the preschool department formation of Grozny, and Tabaryk, as well as his cousin Turpal-Ala Ibragimov, at that time the minister of property and land relations of Chechnya, and now the secretary of the Security Council of Chechnya. In addition, sanctions were imposed against the model house “Firdaus”, the founder of which is Aishat Kadyrova. Ramzan Kadyrov himself has been under sanctions since 2020, he was accused of serious violations of human rights.
• Aymany Kadyrova, the 70-year-old mother of the head of Chechnya, first came under US sanctions last August. In response, Ramzan Kadyrov recorded an emotional video, demanding that the American authorities immediately lift the sanctions against the mother. She is listed as the president and founder of the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation, the funds from which go, among other things, to pay the costs of the war against Ukraine: the purchase of airplanes, armored personnel carriers and military equipment, as well as the distribution of products in the occupied territories.
• Back in 2014, the European Union imposed sanctions against Kadyrov, as a result of which his horses in the stables in the Czech Republic were also subject to sanctions. In March 2023, Kadyrov announced that his thoroughbred horse named Zazu had been taken to Chechnya. It was claimed that he was kidnapped.
• Despite the fact that those around the head of Chechnya regularly declare that the sanctions have no effect, his critics are convinced of the opposite. According to Chechen human rights activists, Kadyrov’s relatives own large assets in the United Arab Emirates. That is why sanctions were introduced against the politician’s closest relatives, through whom he can manage business and real estate.
• At the end of 2022, the head of Chechnya ordered 676 state and municipal enterprises in Chechnya not to report on their activities on the Internet: information about managers, public procurement, their contact information, etc. According to experts, such measures testify to Kadyrov’s desire to hide from Western sanctions his friends and close relatives who head ministries, as well as state and municipal institutions.
• It is not clear on what basis prisoners can be kept in Chechnya, and the head of the region disposes of their fate. Kadyrov regularly publishes videos in his Telegram channel, in which people are present, who are called Ukrainian prisoners.