Russia continues systematically recruiting foreign fighters for war, Ukraine says
Russia is continuing to systematically recruit foreign nationals to fight in its war against Ukraine, officials from Ukraine's intelligence service said Dec. 26.
In December alone, more than 150 foreign nationals from 25 countries were identified as having been recruited into the Russian army, with about 200 more preparing to join, said Oleh Ivashchenko, head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service.
Ivashchenko added that recruitment efforts are concentrated largely in post-Soviet states and countries in the Global South, including Belarus, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Kenya, and China.
Financial incentives, simplified access to Russian citizenship , and amnesty for convicted criminals are among the main motivations for foreigners joining Russia's military, Ivashchenko said.
"Moscow is purposefully playing on the economic instability of poor countries and limited legal migration routes, turning these factors into a means of control and pressure," he emphasized.
According to Ivashchenko, the recruitment of foreign fighters also serves a broader political purpose, allowing the Kremlin to portray the war as extending beyond a bilateral confrontation between Russia and Ukraine.
"The presence of citizens of China, Cuba, or African countries is actively used in propaganda narratives as evidence of support from the 'non-Western world'," emphasized Ivashchenko.
Earlier this year, India's Foreign Ministry said 202 Indian nationals had been recruited into the Russian army since 2022, with at least 26 killed and seven reported missing.
As of October, Russia had mobilized more than 18,000 foreign nationals from 128 countries, according to Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. North Koreans account for the largest contingent of foreign fighters fighting for Russia, the agency said.
