Kadyrov urges to punish families of those who committed terror act in Bryansk Region

Relatives of the attackers should be called to account for the armed incident in the Bryansk Region and, despite the presence of civilian facilities nearby, "bomb down all the sites" that may be associated with the preparation of the terror act, Ramzan Kadyrov has stated.

The head of Chechnya has urged "to deal with all the attackers as harshly and even cruelly as possible." "Shoot to kill. Deal not only with them, but also bring to justice their families who may live in Russia," he wrote in his Telegram channel.

Kadyrov has once again proposed introducing in some Russian regions "the martial law with a maximum level of response instead of the average one". "Yes, it may be inconvenient for local residents, but they will be safe," he has stated.

Such methods of collective responsibility as burning down houses of militants' families, taking relatives of government critics as hostages, and threatening entire families with expulsion from villages as punishment for the actions of their individual relatives, have been already widely practiced in Chechnya.

Thus, on October 13, 2020, four alleged militants were killed in a special operation in Grozny; and two law enforcers perished. After that, according to sources, militants' relatives were interrogated; they were put under pressure. Human rights defenders treat the prosecution of militants' family members as typical of Chechnya.

In November 2015, Kadyrov reiterated his idea of parents' responsibility for their children's actions; this was stated in connection with the need to counter terrorism.