As of: March 28, 2024, 6:19 a.m
By: Alexandra Heidsiek
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Press
Split
Russia is running out of soldiers in the Ukraine war. Now the Kremlin is even recruiting Indians under false pretenses to fill the gaps.
New Delhi -
“The situation is grim. We don't get anything to eat […] there are dead people everywhere. And we are all so afraid,” Indian contract soldier Gurpreet Singh told a
ZDF
reporter by telephone. Singh reported that as a tourist in Russia, he encountered a supposed tour guide who detained him and his tour group due to expired visas. They were then forced to sign for military service.
Indians are being forced to participate in the Ukraine war in an organized manner
Singh is not an isolated case. According to
ZDF
, the Indian Foreign Ministry confirmed at the beginning of March that it had been contacted by almost 20 Indian citizens stuck in the Ukraine war. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) puts the known number of victims at 35. Last year, according to an anonymous source in the Russian Defense Ministry, there were around 100.
Putin wants to use all means possible to recruit new soldiers for the war in Ukraine. In the crosshairs: foreigners and migrants. © Alex Babenko/dpa/AP
In a press release, the CBI reported on an “organized network” that deliberately uses YouTube to lure young Indians to Russia with false promises. The men, mostly from poor families, are offered lucrative jobs as drivers or cooks - then they are sent to the front.
Russia lures vulnerable nationalities into military service
This is not the first time Moscow has tricked foreigners into fighting in Ukraine. Shortly after the start of the war, reports of Central Asian citizens being drafted into military service became known. In August 2023 there were increased raids against migrants in order to force them into military service; In some regions they are denied naturalization if they have not previously completed military service. After the terrorist attack on a concert hall near Moscow, Tajiks are now increasingly in the focus of the Russian authorities.
Russia is also said to have launched large-scale recruitment attempts in Cuba. At the time, the Cuban Interior Ministry spoke of a “human trafficking network.” They too were lured by promises of high salaries. A spokeswoman for the Ukrainian parliament estimated the number of Cuban fighters in the Ukraine war at 1,500 to 3,000. However, the largest group of foreign recruits is said to include Nepalese: ZDF
states
that up to 15,000 of them are serving as soldiers in the Russian army.
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Russia's efforts are aimed at luring desperate men from impoverished regions into military service with promises of money. At the beginning of this year, deputies from the Tula region presented a new law that offers foreigners who have committed crimes to serve their sentences in the army. Only on January 4th of this year, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree making it easier for foreigners to become citizens after serving in the Ukraine war.
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