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Chechnya holds 150 Ukrainian soldiers, reportedly uses POWs as human shields

“Ukraine’s prisoner affairs office reports more than 150 of its soldiers are being held captive in Grozny, where Chechen authorities use them as human shields at military facilities. The Red Cross has been denied access to verify prisoners’ conditions.
byOlena Mukhina
16/02/2025
3 minute read
Ukrainian POWs
A Ukrainian POW reacts after returning from the Russian captivity on 31 January 2024. Photo: Telegram/Zelenskyy Official
Chechnya holds 150 Ukrainian soldiers, reportedly uses POWs as human shields

More than 150 Ukrainian soldiers are believed to be held in captivity in the Chechen city of Grozny, with 36 classified as “missing” and the rest confirmed as prisoners, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports, citing Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for Prisoners of War Affairs.

Many Ukrainian defenders and civilians remain in detention in Russia, with reports indicating that most of them have been held under inhumane conditions, suffering torture and lack of medical care. The exact number of Ukrainians currently in captivity is not specified, but ongoing efforts continue to negotiate their release.

“Ukrainian troops are captured from various front-line sectors but may later be transferred to detention facilities in Chechnya… The Kadyrov regime uses prisoners as ‘human shields’ for military sites and as leverage to lift sanctions on Kadyrov’s family,” the headquarters stated.

Chechen authorities have made no official exchange proposals. While Ukraine has provided details on the captives to the Red Cross, the organization has no access to Chechnya.

Late last year, Ramzan Kadyrov publicly displayed Ukrainian prisoners and announced plans to place them on the rooftops of strategic facilities. The 1949 Geneva Convention explicitly prohibits the use of prisoners of war as “human shields.”

Earlier, Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces are operating a black market of prisoners of war.

According to the Spokesperson of Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Petro Yatsenko, Chechen paramilitary groups were actively buying up captured Ukrainians from other Russian military factions to exchange them for their own soldiers.

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