About 50 Russian citizens found in captivity in Iraq

In the territory of Iraq, 18 women and about 30 children from Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia and other regions of Russia were found in capture. In a letter to her mother, one of the captured women wrote that she was in fact in slavery with other women and children.

"The list, which mentions the names of 18 women, mainly from Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, and other places... was re-sent to us through unofficial channels on the other day [January 29]. Almost all women are with children, there are about 30 of them. There is also a letter from one of the women ... who appeals to her mother for help," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by a female member of an NGO in Chechnya.

"We need to find out as soon as possible where the listed people can be kept. And we also need to find their relatives. Their situation is apparently very difficult," the NGO member has added.

She called a letter written by one of the women to her mother "a cry of despair."

The author of the letter writes that she has been kept in captivity for five months already, and that, together with children and other such women, she is actually in slavery in the territory of Iraq.

While commenting on the situation, an official from the administration for the Chechen leader and the government of Chechnya has told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the activities on transporting from Iraq and Syria the widows and children of militants from Russia and the CIS countries "encounter serious difficulties." The issue with the return from Iraq and Syria of more than 150 women and children announced yet in mid-December 2017 has not yet been resolved.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.