Russia recruited over 27,000 foreigners from 135 countries for the war against Ukraine - Coordination Headquarters
Kyiv • UNN
The Coordination Headquarters identified 27,407 foreign mercenaries in the ranks of the Russian army. Hundreds of citizens of Arab countries are in Ukrainian captivity.
Russia has recruited 27,407 foreign citizens from 135 countries for the war against Ukraine. This was reported by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, writes UNN.
Egypt, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, Algeria, Syria, Morocco, Jordan – this is far from a complete list of Arab countries whose citizens the Russian Federation is recruiting for the war against Ukraine.
Currently, hundreds of foreigners are in Ukrainian captivity, and their number continues to grow. Every week, the Defense Forces capture one to three citizens of third countries.
As of today, the Coordination Headquarters' "I Want to Live" project has already published data on more than 10,000 identified living and dead foreigners in the Russian army from various parts of the world. In total, 27,407 foreign citizens from 135 countries have been recruited into the Russian army.
In 2025 alone, hundreds of people from Arabic-speaking countries in Africa and the Middle East ended up in the Russian occupation forces. The "I Want to Live" project published a film about five such "adventurers" – from Egypt, Yemen, and Somalia. All of them claim that they went to Russia to earn money, but ended up on the front line.
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