The Economist: Ramzan Kadyrov says his republic has sent 70,000 men to fight in Ukraine, but Chechens make up just 0.2% of Russia’s confirmed war dead

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov regularly voices support for Russia’s war against Ukraine, but Chechnya’s authorities do not actually share the Kremlin’s interests in that war, The Economist reports.

“Whatever interests Moscow has in Ukraine, we are a world apart from them,” said an anonymous source whom The Economist described as “a well-known Chechen with close ties to the leadership.”

The source said Kadyrov “understands the situation perfectly well” and has no desire to sacrifice his people for the sake of the “Russian world.”

Kadyrov said in April that Chechnya had sent more than 70,000 fighters to the front, the equivalent of 9% of the republic’s male population. The casualty figures say otherwise. In the most recent count of Russian military deaths compiled by Mediazona, an independent Russian outlet, and the BBC, people from Chechnya accounted for just 540 of the 236,000 confirmed dead, or 0.2%. Chechnya makes up 1.1% of Russia’s population — five times its share of the war dead.

A month ago, Kadyrov again said Chechen special forces were “literally burning with the desire to carry out highly complex orders.” In practice, though, Akhmat fighters — whom pro-war Russian bloggers have nicknamed the “TikTok troops” for how much they post on social media — are often nowhere near the front line.

Keeping them away from the front also has the approval of Chechnya’s authorities, The Economist writes. “They appear to be taking part, but have been ordered not to overdo it and to look after themselves,” said a source close to the Chechen leadership.

Kadyrov has so far managed to shield most of Chechnya’s population from forced mobilization by intensifying repression against vulnerable groups.

That approach also helps Kadyrov strengthen his image as the “father of the nation,” according to The Economist. When he has to send someone to the front, he picks from vulnerable groups he himself considers undesirable: gay people, people with alcohol dependency, and relatives of Chechen opposition figures.

The war in photos: Kramatorsk