Russian military recruitment of foreign nationals to fight in Ukraine amounts to human trafficking with Kremlin recruiters using deceptive, coercive, and exploitative practices to fill out army ranks, human rights advocacy group Amnesty International said in a new report published on Thursday.Russia systematically lures individuals from abroad into the Russian Armed Forces under false pretences, and targets particularly vulnerable migrants and refugees already present in Russia who have traveled in from low-income countries of the Global South, the report said. “Amnesty’s research demonstrates how Russia’s Armed Forces are…using them as cannon fodder,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, in a published statement.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “The level of exploitation and coercion (by Russia) amounts to human trafficking as defined under the UN’s Palermo Protocol,” she added. The Amnesty report was based on interviews with individuals from Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Somalia, and South Africa at two Ukrainian prisoner of war camps, between 2024 and 2026. “Russian authorities have weaponized the irregular immigration status of those who overstay work-related visas and the precarious situation of foreigners accused of criminal offences, presenting enlistment as a favourable alternative to detention and deportation,” a co-published Amnesty statement said.
Amnesty International Brands Russian Army Recruitment as ‘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.
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