"Memory Project" recalls problem of unpunished kidnappings in Chechnya

On the anniversary of Stalin's deportation of Vainakhs, the human rights "Memory Project" has issued a documentary about the people who fell victim to kidnappings and forced disappearances in Chechnya in the 2000s.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in 2023, no official events were held in Chechnya to mark the 79th anniversary of Vainakhs' deportation; on that day, Kadyrov limited himself to curses against Stalin.

On February 23, the remembrance day of victims of Stalin's deportation of Ingushes and Chechens, the "Memory Project" posted an animated film that tells personal stories of the Chechen residents who had fallen victim to state violence.

"Just imagine: law enforcers take away one's relative, and refuse disclosing his fate for years. The mother and father do not know whether the son is alive, and if so, where he is being kept. And if he is dead, they cannot find out the death cause, receive the body and bury him with dignity. This is how relatives of victims of forced disappearances in Chechnya and other regions of Northern Caucasus have been living for more than 20 years," the project's Telegram channel says.

"One of the stories tells about the events of March 31, 2002. Unknown people in masks and with firearms burst into the house of Milana's family; they detained her husband and his brother. Milana, with her little son in her arms, was roughly pushed away; she hit the wall hard ... Nothing has been known about her husband and his brother for 22 years," human rights defenders have reported.