“Don’t Believe Russia”: Iraqi Man Forced Into Russian Army Warns Others

With Russia’s military losses mounting, reaching over one million, Moscow continues working on attracting foreigners to its army either directly through mercenary campaigns by offering enticing one-time payments in addition to a monthly salary or by luring vulnerable persons under false pretenses.

The dangers of job hunting in Russia

Forced to leave by his unit and left without food in the cold, Waddah Khaled Kareem was captured by the Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv direction. His story, shared with us by the Ukrainian services, isn’t unique.

Originally a fish trader in Iraq, he decided to travel to Russia on a one-month tourist visa after his trade failed to provide a stable income. Failing to find a job for a month, Waddah was detained by what seemed to be the Russian police.

“They threw me in jail for about 8, 9, or 10 days—I don’t remember exactly,” Waddah said in a statement on camera. “After that, they took me to a place far from Moscow, we drove from night until morning, and forced me to sign a contract with the Russian army without my knowledge. I was taken into the military and trained for a month in a remote location.”

The contract allegedly stated a cash payment of 210,000 rubles ($2,600). Waddah said that he never received the money and emphasized that he was forced to sign the contract after a long beating.

Lost in military translation

During the one-month training, Waddah’s phone was taken away. He said that the military training classes lasted from seven in the morning to five in the evening and were all conducted in Russian. Not knowing the language, Waddah didn’t understand the instructors and simply repeated what the others did. He recalls seeing many foreigners from Africa there, including Algerians, Tunisians, and Egyptians.

One day, Waddah and his comrades were woken up in the middle of the night and informed that they would be taken away the next day, at 8 am. The next morning, he and other servicemen were taken to a place “where there are pipes.” Sent on a 26-hour mission through pipelines, he lacked any protective gear and was armed with only an AK-74 rifle and a single magazine.

Throughout 2024-2025 multiple reports emerged of Russia using non functioning pipelines to bypass Ukrainian defenses. A story of a Russian soldier, who claimed to have been through such mission was reported by Important Stories, citing Astra: “People just lost their minds in there. One shot himself. One… pointed his rifle at himself. Another smashed his own head. A third crashed into a wall. Panic set in.”

“To all the Africans and muslims, to all the Arab countries”

Following a conflict with his unit, he was forced out of the tunnels at gunpoint after being beaten and denied food for two days. Waddah and one of his comrades hid for four days before being captured by the Ukrainian military on one of the farms in a Ukrainian village.

“When I surrendered, the Ukrainian forces treated me very well,” Waddah said. “They didn’t cause us any harm. They gave us food and water. Now they are treating my leg because it was in bad condition. Praise be to God, we have seen nothing but good from the Ukrainian forces.”

For now, Russia shows no sign of slowing its recruitment efforts. Recent reports indicate that campaign targeting foreign nationals has intensified, with the volume of online advertisements rising more than sevenfold since last summer.

Moscow continues to employ aggressive and deceptive tactics to lure students and low-wage workers, promising up to $20,000 in upfront payments.

Waddah stated a clear message to those considering the path of joining the Russian army: “To all the Africans and muslims, to all the Arab countries, don’t believe Russia. […] It is wrong. Do not get involved in this and do not fall into the same trouble I did.”

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