As it recruits mercenaries, Russia is openly misleading people, portraying the war in Ukraine as an exciting adventure that even pays.
Ukraine has identified the real names of more than 18,000 foreign nationals from 128 countries and unrecognized territories who have fought or are still fighting within the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. At least 3,388 of them have been killed. Ukraine also holds prisoners of war from 37 countries who fought on the occupiers’ side.
Brigadier General Dmitry Usov, secretary of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, announced this at the international Crimea Global conference, the Coordination Headquarters reported on its official Telegram channel.
According to him, starting in 2023, Russia built an extensive network of recruiters around the world to compensate for heavy losses in its army. As a result, the number of contracts signed by foreigners with Russia’s armed forces rose monthly - first into the hundreds, then into the thousands.
For most of these mercenaries, money is the main motive. At the same time, many people ended up in Russia’s army through deception or coercion - particularly foreigners who came to Russia to work or study. India, for example, has reported such cases.
Even so, thanks to coordinated work by the Coordination Headquarters, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and members of parliament, Ukraine has recently managed to significantly slow Russia’s international recruiting.
Usov cited effective cooperation with Nepal’s government: “In 2023–2024, nearly 1,000 Nepali citizens signed contracts with the Russian army. In 2025, as of October 1, only one person from that country joined Russia’s forces.”
Usov also emphasized that Russia shows little interest in returning foreign citizens from Ukrainian captivity through prisoner exchanges. “Russia has not requested a single foreign citizen for exchange so far, except citizens of North Korea. Meanwhile, the Coordination Headquarters is working and doing everything necessary to carry out President Volodymyr Zelensky’s directive - bring back all our military and civilians from Russian prisons and detention sites as soon as possible,” he said.
Foreigners whom Russia uses in the war as cheap, rightless “cannon fodder” have only one chance to survive - to surrender to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
Earlier, Kenya’s President William Ruto said he asked Ukraine’s President to help secure the release of “any Kenyan who is in custody in Ukraine.”
Earlier in Kenya, law enforcement uncovered a criminal network recruiting men to fight on Russia’s side. Men were lured to Russia with promises of well-paid jobs and then forced to sign contracts with the Russian army. Fighters from the 57th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, in particular, reported capturing a 36-year-old Kenyan, Evans, in the Kharkiv region. He had traveled to Russia as a tourist and, through deception, ended up in the occupiers’ ranks.
