A Number of Countries Are Demanding the Return of Citizens Whom russia Has Fraudulently Recruited to Fight in the War Against Ukraine

Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Kenya have publicly reported cases of their citizens being drawn into the war against Ukraine and are seeking to secure their return home. According to relatives and government officials, men who travel to russia to work are deceived into joining the russian army or forced to sign military contracts. The issue has reached the diplomatic level, and some countries are treating these cases as potential human trafficking.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan Zheenbek Kulubayev, has acknowledged that his Ministry is receiving reports of citizens being coerced into signing contracts with the ministry of defense of the rf. According to him, this is happening, in particular, at military commissariats and in pretrial detention centers. If the information is received in time, diplomats try to prevent people from being sent to the front lines.

Kazakhstan is also negotiating with russia regarding the return of its citizens from the combat zone. According to Kazakhstan’s diplomats, the Ministry is responding to requests from people who want to return home. These requests were prompted, in particular, by stories of men who went to russia to work but ended up in the russian army. Relatives of one of Kazakhstan’s men have said that after he complained about working conditions, he and other men were taken to a military commissariat and forced to sign a contract.

Similar cases have also been reported in Africa. In particular, Kenya is seeking the return of its citizens who fought on russia’s side and were taken prisoner of war by Ukraine. The country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Musalia Mudawadi has stated that the men were promised jobs as drivers, security guards, or cooks, but instead found themselves in the russian occupying army.

The recruitment of foreigners for the war against Ukraine is becoming not only a humanitarian but also a diplomatic problem for russia. Foreign governments are increasingly acknowledging publicly that their citizens are ending up in the russian army under circumstances that may indicate deception or coercion, and are demanding their return. Stories that were once the concern of individual families are now becoming the subject of international negotiations and are causing reputational damage to moscow, exposing the methods it uses to recruit foreigners for the war against Ukraine.