The Times: Chechen leadership buys Ukrainian prisoners of war for exchange

The Chechen authorities are buying captured Ukrainian soldiers from Russian units for their subsequent exchange for their colleagues. Petr Yatsenko, a representative of the Ukrainian coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war, told the English edition of The Times about this.

The names of at least two Ukrainian soldiers who were exchanged in a similar way are known. This is Vyacheslav Levitsky and Sergei Potremai. Levitsky was wounded near Avdeevka in February 2023 and captured. According to him, he was not provided with medical assistance and was kept in the cold, as a result of which his legs and arms had to be amputated. He was taken to Grozny, kept in a basement with other prisoners, and then exchanged for Kadyrov’s men.

Sergei Potremai claims that there were 39 Ukrainians in the Grozny basement. Nine of them were exchanged for Kadyrov’s men.

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