Russia's Recruitment of Foreign Nationals Amounts to Human Trafficking, Amnesty International Says
The rights group says recruiters used false job ads, seized passports and sent many foreigners to the front lines after little or no training.
- On Thursday, Amnesty International released a report alleging Russia uses deceptive and coercive practices to recruit foreign nationals from low-income countries into its Armed Forces, concluding these actions amount to human trafficking under the UN's Palermo Protocol.
- Recruiters lure individuals with false promises of lucrative civilian employment in sectors like IT or security, while local agents and misleading online advertisements exploit the precarious status of migrants and refugees already in Russia.
- Upon signing contracts—often in languages recruits do not understand—they face restricted movement and threats of imprisonment or death, with many reporting passports and mobile phones confiscated before deployment to combat zones after just two weeks of preparation.
- Researchers interviewed 15 captured third-country nationals from Brazil, Colombia, and Sri Lanka; while one prisoner recounted 58 others on his trip, only three recruits told researchers they knew they had signed a military contract.
- Amnesty called on Russia to immediately end these practices, urging other states to take proactive measures to combat this human trafficking while emphasizing the need for full accountability for all complicit parties, including private recruiters and military commanders.
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97 Articles
Amnesty documented false job offers, threats and movement restrictions to incorporate foreigners into Russian forces
The report was based on interviews with prisoners of war from more than a dozen countries who were taken prisoner in Ukraine. Among them were citizens of Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Somalia, and South Africa. Nearly all of them described abuses during the recruitment process, which allowed them to join the Russian armed forces. Among the methods of illegal recruitment cited were fraud, confiscation of documents, black…
Russia’s Recruitment of Foreign Fighters for Ukraine War ‘Amounts to Human Trafficking’
The Russian military’s most effective recruiting pitch to thousands of Brazilians, Colombians, Sri Lankans, Somalis, Cubans, Egyptians, South Africans, and Peruvians is simply to lie.
Amnesty International has accused Russia of human trafficking in the recruitment of foreign fighters for war in Ukraine.
Russia again attacks Kiev a few hours after the departure of American envoys from the Ukrainian capital. Russia cheats foreigners from countries such as Brazil, Colombia and Cuba to recruit them for war in Ukraine, denounced Amnesty International on Thursday (10). The organization heard prisoners of war who claimed to have signed military contracts with Moscow after they were attracted to the country. In addition to Brazilians and Colombians, am…
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