On November 28, Akhmed Dudayev, the Chechen Minister for National Policy, Foreign Relations, Press, and Information, advised Pope Francis, in response to statements that Chechens and Buryats are the most brutal part of the Russian troops in Ukraine, to ask the residents of Donbas about this.

"I would advise him to ask the inhabitants of Donbas about the cruelty or kindness of the Chechen fighters, who enthusiastically and unanimously greet our brothers, characterize them positively, thank them for their protection from the Nazis, and admire their good manners, good disposition, and culture," Dudayev said. He explained the words of the pontiff by saying that he was not satisfied with the position of the Chechens and Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the federal republic, regarding LGBT people.

"We understand that the Pope and other European leaders are mainly not satisfied with the tough and ultimatum position of the head of the Chechen Republic and his team against the global LGBT lobby. Let me remind you that the head of the Vatican and the entire Catholic Church was the first pontiff to advocate the legalization of same-sex civil marriages, although the Bible, like the Holy Quran, contains a strict ban on this," Dudayev emphasized.

Earlier, Pope Francis called the Chechens and Buryats the most brutal part of the Russian troops in Ukraine. "When I talk about Ukraine, I am talking about a nation that is martyred. If you have people who are martyrs, you have someone who is torturing them. As a rule, the cruelest are perhaps those who are from Russia but are not of the Russian tradition, such as Chechens, Buryats, and so on," the pontiff said.