Analysts consider coercion to sign military contracts a typical practice in Chechnya

The detention of volunteers willing to sign a contract in Chechnya and coercion to sign contracts are typical for the republic, but in other regions, the authorities also use pressure to replenish combat military units, analysts believe.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on January 14, volunteers who arrived in Chechnya to sign military contracts complained that they were being kept locked up in order to be sent to the combat zone instead of local residents who had paid a bribe to avoid military service.

One of the authors who prepared a report released by the “Memorial” Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD)* on the practice of coercion to sign military contracts has indicated that there have been no new reports about volunteers being detained in Chechnya. The activist has noted that the practice of kidnapping people in order to force them to sign military contracts is confirmed by appeals to human rights defenders.

Political analyst Ruslan Kutaev explains that Chechen residents may be forced to sign military contracts when another campaign to send fighters to the special military operation zone begins.

Ruslan Kutaev notes that volunteers who are being held in Chechnya are at least not on the front lines, since fighters often complain after signing military contracts that they were sent to the combat zone without proper training.

*As reported on the website of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the reason for including on March 1, 2024, the unregistered “Memorial” Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD) into the register of foreign agents was the spread of “inaccurate information aimed at creating a negative image of the Russian Federation, as well as the Russian Armed Forces.”