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Over 100 Foreign Nationals from 32 Countries Now in Ukrainian Custody—Russians Not Included
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
More than 100 foreign nationals from 32 countries are currently in Ukrainian captivity, not including Russian citizens, according to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War in a response to Slidstvo.Info.
The largest number of such prisoners comes from Central Asia, with Uzbekistan ranked first and Tajikistan second. Other countries with significant representation include Nepal, Belarus, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, and Yemen.
Officials note a steady increase in the number of foreign fighters captured each year. The Coordination Headquarters attributes this to a rise in the number of foreign nationals signing contracts with the Russian Armed Forces.
As of July 2025, foreign citizens (excluding Russians) accounted for 49% of all prisoners in Ukraine—up from 42% in 2024, 9% in 2023, and 1% in 2022.
Data obtained by the Coordination Headquarters’ “I Want to Live” project from sources within the Russian Armed Forces lists 16,894 foreign nationals from 121 countries and unrecognized territories who have fought or are still fighting against Ukraine in the Russian military.
This includes 4,658 citizens of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan; 1,013 from African states; and 9,961 from other countries and territories. At least 678 of these individuals have been confirmed killed.
By June 2025, 6,162 foreign nationals without Russian citizenship had signed contracts with the Russian Armed Forces, compared to 6,011 for the entirety of 2024.
In an interview with Slidstvo.Info, Belarusian citizen Nikolai Zhuravlyov, 43, described his path to captivity. Having lived in Russia for over a decade, he signed a contract with the Russian military in February 2025, citing patriotism toward both Russia and Belarus as well as financial motives.
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After 18 days of training alongside recruits from across the former Soviet Union, he was deployed to the Kupiansk sector and captured a month later. Now held in a POW camp in western Ukraine, Zhuravlyov earns wages for camp work but has not received the promised payments from the Russian military.
A representative of the Coordination Headquarters, Petro Yatsenko, stated that many of the foreign POWs are no longer wanted by either Russia or their home countries, despite having fought under contract with the Russian military. The determination of whether they meet the legal definition of mercenaries will be made in court.
Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that since early 2022 Ukraine and Russia have exchanged over 10,000 service members through a secret channel established by Ukrainian Brigadier General Dmytro Usov after finding a Russian officer’s phone near Kyiv.
The channel, later involving mediators from Türkiye, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, enabled regular swaps—including the evacuation of over 2,500 defenders from Azovstal—making it one of the most extensive and continuous prisoner exchange efforts in modern warfare.
