Update: The document described in this story is fake, according to several of the women it was attributed to.
In a document published on Telegram, a group of women who are reportedly the wives and mothers of soldiers from the “Donetsk People's Militia” claim that their relatives were raped by soldiers from Chechnya.
The statement, which the women reportedly sent to “DNR” head Denis Pushilin, was published on the Telegram channel DNR Batman on September 27. Chechen human rights lawyer Abubakar Yangulbayev later reported that a source from Chechen’s Sever Battalion confirmed the statement’s authenticity.
According to the document, the victims were two soldiers from the “Second Army Corps” of the “Donetsk People’s Military” who were conscripted in the city of Dokuchaevsk.
Near the village of Berestove, where our soldiers are repelling attacks from the Ukrainian national battalions, an unprecedented incident occurred. Two soldiers from the People’s Militia of the DNR [...] who were mobilized from Dokuchaevsk and who worked in the city administration before mobilization were raped by Chechens while their fellow servicemen watched. The other soldiers, who wanted to protect our boys, were threatened [by the Chechens,] who promised to shoot them “like dogs.”
The statement also says that “the military command does not want to be involved in a confrontation with subordinates of Ramzan Kadyrov” and is trying to hide the incident.
The message is dated September 23. It includes nine names and signatures. Neither the Chechen authorities nor the administration of the self-proclaimed “DNR” have commented on the allegations.
Under wartime conditions, it is not always possible for journalists to promptly verify reports from third parties.