10:52, 31 December 2018

Kadyrov reports return of 30 Russian children from Iraq

Woman with children, Kirkuk, Iraq, October 4, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/АКО Рашид

A special flight with 30 Russian children arrived on December 30 from Iraq at the airfield Ramenskoe near Moscow, the head of Chechnya had stated.

Ramzan Kadyrov wrote in his Telegram channel that "three children from Chechnya, one from Moscow, one from Penza, and 24 from Dagestan have arrived from Iraq."

The age of the returning children is 4-15 years; all of them were born in Russia and brought to the Middle East by their mothers, said Kheda Saratova, a member of the working group on returning home Russian children from Middle East conflict zones. "All of them were kept for a long time a Baghdad prison with their mothers accused of terrorism by Iraqi authorities," the RIA "Novosti" quoted Ms Saratova as saying on December 28.

According to various estimates, hundreds or even thousands of children from Dagestan, Chechnya and other regions of the Caucasus may be in Iraq and Syria. Their life and health are in particular danger after the "Islamic State" (IS), a terrorist organization, banned in Russia by the court, began suffering large-scale defeats, says the material of the "Caucasian Knot" entitled "Caliphate Children: What Awaits Them After IS*".

* "Islamic State" (IS, earlier ISIL) has been recognized to be a terrorist organization and banned in Russia by the court

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 30, 2018 at 10:34 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.