Russia recruits more than 45,000 foreigners to fight in Ukraine
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Atlantic Council Africa Center
Russia has recruited more than 45,000 nationals from 151 countries into its armed forces engaged in Ukraine since February 2022, according to Ukrainian authorities. Investigations describe recruitment through deception, job promises and debt, with foreigners sent to the front, according to Truth Hounds and the International Federation for Human Rights.
Russia has recruited more than 45,000 foreign nationals from 151 countries into its armed forces engaged in Ukraine since February 2022, according to Ukrainian authorities, reports the Atlantic Council Africa Center in an analysis published by its Africa Center. A significant proportion of these recruits were allegedly coerced or deceived when they enlisted, according to an April 2026 report by Truth Hounds, a Ukrainian investigative NGO, and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), based on interviews with foreign prisoners of war held in Ukraine.
The report describes a recruitment system based on advertisements posted on social media, promises of civilian jobs in Russia, local brokers, debts and contracts that recruits do not fully understand. Some advertisements offer non-combat positions, leading candidates to believe they are joining the army without the risk of deployment to the front line; almost all foreign recruits nevertheless end up at the front, where mortality is high.
Several countries whose citizens are affected have publicly asked Moscow to stop these enlistments, including Kenya, Ghana and Jordan. Russia has reportedly established a “blacklist” of “friendly” countries whose nationals should not be recruited, but the campaign continues and is expanding to new waves, notably in Peru, Indonesia, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries. Since 2022, the Kremlin has repeatedly eased conditions for foreign military recruits to obtain citizenship, notably removing requirements for knowledge of the language, residence and combat service.
The analysis was published two days after a study on Africans recruited by Russia and held prisoner in Ukraine, on 6 November, amid Russian strikes on Ukrainian power plants on 4 November.
