The Main Intelligence Directorate has exposed the Kremlin's plans to recruit foreigners

The Russian Ministry of Defense has launched a large-scale campaign to recruit foreign nationals to fight in the war against Ukraine, setting clear recruitment targets for regional military commissariats. 

This was reported by the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Agency’s project “I Want to Live.” According to the aggressor’s plan, between 0.5% and 3.5% of the total number of foreigners residing in each constituent entity of the Russian Federation are to be recruited into the military, which will amount to at least 18,500 people over the course of the year.

To carry out this task, 97 contract recruitment centers have been set up across the Russian Federation, with the largest number concentrated in the Central and Moscow Military Districts. Migrants from Central Asian countries—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan—remain the primary source of recruitment, though active efforts are also underway in poor countries in Africa and Asia. In addition to official structures, pseudo-private military companies controlled by the special services, such as “Redut,” “Wagner-2,” and “Sokol,” are involved in the process.

Instead of voluntary recruitment, the occupiers use coercive tactics, exploiting the vulnerable legal status of foreigners. Migrants detained for violating residency regulations or for having expired visas are offered a contract as an alternative to imprisonment for up to 8 years. The “I Want to Live” project urges foreign citizens to refrain from traveling to Russia, as the Kremlin is increasingly using them as cheap human resources to replenish losses on the front lines.