Foreign fighters in Russian ranks rise above 27,000, Ukraine says
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Ukraine has identified 27,407 foreign nationals fighting for Russia in its war against Ukraine as of March 30, up from more than 18,000 in November, with Moscow recruiting them from at least 135 countries, according to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
The headquarters said the recruitment network also spans the Arab world, naming countries across North Africa and the Middle East.
“Egypt, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, Algeria, Syria, Morocco, Jordan — this is far from a complete list of Arab countries whose citizens the Russian Federation is recruiting for the war against Ukraine,” the headquarters said in a statement on March 30. .
Earlier in March, the headquarters said nearly half of the foreign fighters it had identified came from Asia, though recruits have also been identified in EU member states, including Italy.
Brig. Gen. Dmytro Usov, secretary of the coordination headquarters, said in November that Russia had built an extensive global recruitment network since 2023 to offset battlefield losses, with the number of foreigners signing contracts rising from hundreds to thousands per month.
The headquarters says much of the data on foreign nationals serving in the Russian army is compiled when those fighters are taken prisoner, including through Ukraine's "I Want to Live" project, which encourages those fighting on Russia's side to surrender to Ukrainian forces.
"In total, hundreds of foreigners are currently held in Ukrainian captivity, and their number continues to grow. Each week, Ukraine’s Defense Forces take captive one to three citizens of third countries, whom the Kremlin regime is effectively sending to certain death," the headquarters said.
