The UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on violations in Ukraine has found compelling evidence of recruitment through deception and coercion of citizens of 29 countries into the ranks of the Russian armed forces.
This is stated in the commission’s investigation findings, the Defence Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) reported.
Russia coordinated the activities of intermediaries who lured men with bogus job offers, arranged their travel, and, after their arrival, pressured them into signing military contracts.
In many cases, the “recruits” had their passports and phones taken away, and refusal to sign a contract was accompanied by threats or actual violence.
Recruited foreigners who do not speak Russian often lack proper military training and do not understand the terms of the contracts they have signed, and end up in assault operations in the most dangerous sections of the front line.
The UN commission documented cases in which foreign recruits were sent to the front despite written guarantees that they would not take part in combat. In one such group of 30 men, 17 were killed, five went missing, and one returned after being wounded.
Researchers also recorded beatings, death threats, and the use of drones to prevent mercenaries from retreating.
“The cost of Russian recruitment is increasingly evident in prisoner-of-war statistics as well. According to Ukrainian intelligence, dozens of citizens of 18 African states are already being held in Ukrainian captivity, and their number is only growing,” HUR noted.
Intelligence officers add that recruitment does not provide foreigners with even basic guarantees. Intermediaries disappear from contact, relatives cannot obtain information about their loved ones, and the promised payments and compensation become unattainable.
- HUR also reported that Russia is opening editorial centres in Africa, negotiating broadcasts on local radio stations, launching digital platforms, and engaging local journalists and bloggers. Through these platforms, Moscow is recruiting for its army.
- According to Ukrainian intelligence, as of October 2026, personal details have been established for at least 5,451 citizens of 43 African states who have signed contracts with the armed forces of the Russian Federation.