Kadyrov criticizes regional leadership for ‘squawking’ about Russian losses in Ukraine

Chechnya governor Ramzan Kadyrov criticized the leaders of Russian regions for publishing information about Russia’s losses in the war with Ukraine.

Kadyrov said that “losses are inevitable,” but that he doesn’t understand “when leaders of the regions squawk about the numbers of dead.”

“I have a question: what for? They write everything down to the tiniest detail,” he wrote.

According to Kadyrov, soldiers “choose this heroic path themselves,” and they do so “consciously.” Rather than publicly discussing losses, he suggests helping the families of dead and wounded soldiers:

Chechens are also losing their native sons, but instead of talking about it everywhere, we’re helping families with everything they need, including with payments of a million rubles [almost 13,500 USD] when a soldier dies, and 500,000 [6,745 USD] when they’re injured. We pay even before the Ministry of Defense sends material aid. It’s the most correct and right thing to do in this situation.

BBC News Russian notes that Kadyrov’s statements coincide with sharp increases in reports of deaths among Russian soldiers, on both social media and official channels. The publication estimates that in December and January, 500–600 Russian soldiers were killed per week. During one week in February, the publication confirmed 1,063 Russian losses.