Chechen President Kadyrov reacts to reports about black market of captive soldiers in Russia

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov cracked down on publications in Western and Ukrainian media about the existence of a black market for captured Ukrainian soldiers in Russia. Such publications are fake news, Kadyrov said.

Earlier, The Times published an article based on a story by Ukrainian fighter Vyacheslav Levitsky, who returned from Russian captivity. The article was published under the headline "I was a prisoner of war. Russia traded me on the black market."

According to Ramzan Kadyrov, Russian soldiers found Levitsky after "his comrades-in-arms abandoned him wounded.” By this time, the wounded soldier had had his hands frostbitten. It was decided to take Levitsky to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, for treatment. The fighter had to have his limbs amputated due to the onset of gangrene.

The Times article said, however, that the Ukrainian soldier had his limbs amputated for his subsequent exchange for a Chechen fighter. Such assertions are outright nonsense, Kadyrov said. The British publication told the story of the Ukrainian soldier, whose life was saved in Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov noted.

Earlier, Chechen President Kadyrov said that there were as many as 8,000 Chechen fighters taking part in the special military operation in Ukraine. Chechnya has sent more than 38,000 people to Ukraine since the beginning of the special operation in the country, Kadyrov added.