13:16, 22 August 2018

Fate of a hundred Russian women-prisoners in Iraq became known

A woman during the hostilities in Mosul (Iraq). March 1, 2017. Photo REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

More than 100 Russian women, serving their sentences for assisting terrorists in Iraq, asked to help them to return to their homeland, said Tatiana Moskalkova, the Russian Ombudsperson.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in July, about 50 women from Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Adygea and other regions of Russia appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to return their daughters and grandchildren from Iraqi prisons.

According to various estimates, in Iraq and Syria, there may be hundreds or even thousands of children from Dagestan, Chechnya and other regions of the Caucasus.

According to Ms Moskalkova, children may stay with their convicted mothers only up to the age of three; then, they are taken to orphanages, and their fate is unknown.

She has noted that there is no Russian-Iraqi agreement on mutual transfer of prisoners.

Kheda Saratova, a member of the Human Rights Council under the head of Chechnya, has added that she has received over 700 applications from grandmothers and other relatives of the women who left for Syria during the war, the TASS reports.

According to Saratova, some have been sheltered by local residents. Now, 21 women are sentenced to life imprisonment; and up to 70 other women are awaiting trial in Baghdad.

The Chechen authorities are making use of the return of women and children from Syria and Iraq for their propaganda purposes, residents of Chechnya believe. Information on this issue comes only from the authorities of the republic.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 22, 2018 at 10:54 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.