Russia Recruited 150 Foreign Fighters From 25 Countries in December to Join War Against Ukraine

Russia enlisted 150 foreign nationals from 25 countries to fight against Ukraine in December, while around 200 more foreigners are currently preparing to join the Russian armed forces, Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service said on December 26.

According to the agency, recruitment is primarily drawing on post-Soviet states and countries in the Global South, including Belarus, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Kenya, and China.

Head of the service, Oleh Ivashchenko. said foreign recruits are mainly motivated by financial incentives, simplified procedures for obtaining Russian citizenship, and amnesty for those with criminal records.

“Moscow deliberately exploits economic instability in poorer countries and limited legal migration pathways, turning these factors into instruments of control and pressure. The presence of citizens from China, Cuba, or African countries is actively used in propaganda narratives as proof of support from the ‘non-Western world,’” Ivashchenko said.

He added that the involvement of foreign nationals has a clear political dimension, as Moscow seeks to frame the war as a confrontation that goes far beyond a bilateral conflict.

At the same time, Kazakhstan has opened roughly 700 criminal investigations this year into citizens who took part in the war against Ukraine on Russia’s side.

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According to the outlet, courts make no distinction based on the units or organizations in which the defendants served. Comparable sentences have been handed down to former Wagner Group fighters and to those who signed contracts with Russia’s Defense Ministry, as Kazakh law treats participation in the war itself as a criminal act, regardless of affiliation.

Earlier, several Russian servicemen, among them a Kenyan citizen and recruits drawn from Russian prisons, surrendered to Ukrainian troops in the Kharkiv region after being located and guided by aerial drones.

Footage published by Ukraine’s 127th Separate Mechanized Brigade shows the soldiers laying down their arms over a two-day period, saying they had come to understand that their commanders had left them behind.

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