Russia's recruitment of foreign nationals for Ukraine war amounts to 'human trafficking', Amnesty says

Russia’s recruitment of foreign nationals to fight in its war against Ukraine amounts to “human trafficking,” according to a report published Thursday by Amnesty International.

The human rights organization says Moscow has used “deceptive, coercive and exploitative practices” to recruit citizens from low-income countries such as Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone or Somalia. The tactics include “hollow promises of civilian or non-combat roles,” Amnesty’s Secretary-General Agnès Callamard said.

Amnesty’s report draws from testimonies and interviews of foreign citizens detained in Ukrainian prisoner-of-war camps. Some of them told the NGO that Russian authorities coerced them into joining the force when their residence permit in Russia was about to expire.

A Sri Lankan national named as Dinesh said he was approached about joining the army after his Russian work visa had expired. After the two weeks of training, Dinesh was sent to the front line, where he was captured by the Ukrainian army two months later, the report reads.

Others say they were lured into joining the army from abroad under the pretext of doing a different kind of job. A Brazilian man referred to as Pedro in the report told Amnesty he thought he was signing a contract for a well-paid IT job in Russia, and was in fact taken to a military training center and later sent to the front line.

The Kremlin’s tactics to recruit foreign nationals have been the subject of multiple reports and have triggered diplomatic disputes. Countries such as Kenya and Ghana have demanded that Russia stop recruiting their citizens to fight in the war.

Ukrainian authorities estimated in March that at least 27,000 foreign nationals from 135 countries had been recruited by Russia since 2022. The main groups come from Tajikistan, Belarus and Kazakhstan — countries from which there has traditionally been a large flow of migrants to Russia.

A Kremlin spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.