On February 23, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov denounced the "inhuman order of the accursed Joseph Stalin" and expressed gratitude to Russian President Vladimir Putin for restoring historical justice, marking the anniversary of the Vainakh peoples' deportation.

Kadyrov reflected on the tragic events of February 23, 1944, when Chechens and Ingush were forcibly deported to Siberia and Central Asia under Stalin’s orders during Operation Lentil, led by Lavrentiy Beria. He wrote, "This criminal order led to enormous suffering: thousands of people perished along the way, in the harsh conditions of special settlements, from hunger, cold, and disease. Our people were condemned to this ordeal solely by the will of a ruthless regime that spared neither women, the elderly, nor children."

Rejecting the justification for the deportation, Kadyrov dismissed accusations that Chechens had collaborated with Nazi Germany, stating, "These false allegations, used as an official pretext for this tragedy, do not withstand any scrutiny." He emphasized that "thousands of Chechens fought heroically on the front lines of the Great Patriotic War, defended Stalingrad, and took part in the liberation of besieged Leningrad."

The Chechen leader also thanked Vladimir Putin for awarding Grozny the honorary title "City of Military Glory" in 2015, calling it "an important recognition of our people's contributions and a final rejection of attempts to tarnish their history."

Notably, the Vainakh peoples, comprising Chechens and Ingush, endured one of the darkest chapters of their history during World War II. On February 23, 1944, the Soviet government, under Joseph Stalin, accused them of collaborating with Nazi Germany—a claim widely regarded as unfounded—and launched a mass deportation known as Operation Lentil. Approximately 496,000 Chechens and Ingush were forcibly relocated to remote regions of the Soviet Union, primarily Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.