Instead of earning money—war against Ukraine: three countries demand that the Russian Federation return their citizens

Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Kenya report cases of their citizens being recruited into the Russian army through deception or coercion. The authorities of these countries are seeking to secure the return of their fellow citizens home, while the issue of recruiting foreigners to participate in the war against Ukraine is increasingly becoming a subject of diplomatic negotiations. The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine reported this, according to UNN.

Details

Kyrgyzstan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeenbek Kulubayev confirmed that the diplomatic service is receiving information about cases of the country’s citizens being forced to sign contracts with Russia’s Ministry of Defense. According to him, such cases are being recorded, in particular, at Russian military enlistment offices and pretrial detention centers. If information about forced recruitment is received in a timely manner, Kyrgyz diplomats attempt to intervene and prevent their citizens from being sent to the front.

Kazakhstan is also negotiating with the Russian side over the return of citizens who ended up in the combat zone in Ukraine. According to Kazakh diplomats, the ministry responds to appeals from fellow citizens seeking to return home. Some of these cases involve men who initially traveled to Russia for work but later ended up serving in the Russian military. In particular, relatives of one Kazakh citizen said that after he complained about working conditions, he and other men were taken to a military enlistment office, where they were forced to sign military contracts.

Kenya has also reported a similar problem. The authorities of the African country are seeking the return of its citizens who fought on Russia’s side and were captured by Ukraine. Kenya’s Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi said that the recruited men had been promised civilian employment in Russia. In particular, the jobs involved working as drivers, security guards or cooks. Instead, after arriving, they ended up serving in the Russian occupying army.

Cases of foreigners being drawn into the war against Ukraine through deception or coercion are causing growing concern among the governments of other countries. Some countries are considering such situations as possible cases of human trafficking.

Previously mentioned

Earlier, UNN reported that Russia had begun recruiting residents of Thailand into its army, promising "safe" service far from Ukraine.