On February 23, Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya, commented on the deportation of the Chechens and Ingush in 1944 on his Telegram channel: "February 23, 1944 - the day of a flagrant crime against the Chechen and Ingush peoples. By order of the accursed Joseph Stalin, our people were subjected to a horrific genocide - mass deportation to Siberia and Kazakhstan. The reason was the unfounded accusation of collaboration with the Nazi occupiers. It was only a cover for committing reprisals against entire nations."

"And all this happened while tens of thousands of Chechens, side by side with representatives of other nationalities of the country, valiantly fought on the fields of the Great Patriotic War. One of the first in the ranks of the Red Army resisted the invasion of the Nazis into the territory of the USSR and fought fierce battles, clearing the cities of the Soviet Union from the Nazi occupation. But all this was not taken into account by the authorities in their irrepressible desire to destroy the freedom-loving and proud people," he added.

"After 13 years, by the mercy of Allah Almighty, justice has triumphed! Charges of betrayal were dropped from the Chechen people, and our ancestors were able to return to their homeland. Exhausted, having lost their relatives and friends, but retaining their national identity, their culture, traditions, and customs, faith in Allah Almighty, they began to live anew, improving their lives bit by bit," Kadyrov said.

"It is our moral duty to remember these tragic events in order to prevent their recurrence! Today we live in a country where spiritual and family values are a priority, where the rights of every citizen are protected, and there is freedom of religion. And we will value our motherland and protect it from external threats. The Chechen people are a vivid example of revival, rapid development, solidarity, and unity. We demonstrated this during the years of the fight against international terrorism. And today, our guys, like their grandfathers and great-grandfathers, are at the forefront of the fight against Satanism and Nazism, again trying to raise its head. May Allah Almighty help us in this struggle!" the head of Chechnya concluded.

Notably, the genocide of the Chechen and Ingush people in 1944, also known as the Deportation of the Chechens and Ingush, was a mass forced migration and ethnic cleansing campaign ordered by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin during World War II. On February 23, 1944, Soviet authorities accused the Chechen and Ingush populations of collaborating with Nazi Germany. They ordered their deportation from their ancestral lands in the North Caucasus region of the Soviet Union. Over the course of three days, more than 400,000 Chechen and Ingush people, including women, children, and the elderly, were forcibly rounded up and transported to Central Asia and Siberia in cattle cars without any warning or explanation. Many died during the journey due to harsh conditions, disease, and starvation. In 1956, after Stalin's death, the Soviet government allowed the surviving Chechen and Ingush people to return to their ancestral lands. However, they faced further discrimination and persecution under Soviet rule.