Explosive report

Russia has a “black market” for prisoners of war

Chechens are apparently using the prisoners to exchange their own soldiers.(Bild: APA/AFP/Oleksii FILIPPOV)

According to a recent report, the Russian armed forces are operating a "black market" to sell Ukrainian prisoners of war. According to the report, Kiev's captured soldiers are being sold for money into the hands of Chechen units.

This is reported by the US think tank "Institute of the Study of War" (ISW) in its latest situation report. The Ukrainian spokesman for the Coordination Staff for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Petro Yatsenko, explained in the British newspaper "The Times" that Chechen paramilitary groups are buying Ukrainian prisoners of war from other Russian military units in order to exchange them for Chechen prisoners of war in Ukraine. 

Chechens are apparently using the prisoners to exchange their own soldiers.(Bild: APA/AFP/Oleksii FILIPPOV)

Chechens gratefully accept prisoners
The report also states that, despite their martial appearance, the Chechen fighters led by Ramzan Kadyrov are mainly active in the rear area of the front in a logistical function and as military police. They therefore have few opportunities to arrest Ukrainian prisoners of war.

The fact that the relatively independent Chechens are apparently exchanging their own prisoners suggests that they are not participating in the internationally negotiated Ukrainian-Russian agreements.

"There were cases in which they bought our wounded from the Russian army, brought them to Grozny and then exchanged them for their own," Yatsenko continued.

Kadyrov's "TikTok force" hardly ever deployed on the front
As the Times reports, there is apparently no article in the Geneva Convention that precludes such trade. However, such a practice would probably violate a clause which states that no agreement may adversely affect the situation of prisoners of war.

Russian war bloggers had already accused the units from Chechnya of incompetence and a lack of commitment in the past. For example, they were often mocked as "TikTok troops" due to their dubious PR activities on the supposed front.

In fact, the fighters of Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov tend to operate in the rear areas after the fierce battles for Mariupol, Zjevyerodonetsk and Lysychansk in 2022 - only a few are actually deployed in an active frontline section.

The controversial handling of prisoners of war
According to the Times, around 2,700 Ukrainian prisoners have so far been released as part of exchange measures. However, it is not entirely clear how many Russians have been released by Kiev. It is estimated that more than 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers are still being held by the Kremlin.

Most recently, the case of seven of them made headlines: According to information from Kiev, the soldiers are said to have been literally executed "with their hands up".