Russia Brands Foreign Recruits With Identification Henna Tattoos for Tracking

Russia is using a system of sequential identification numbers to mark foreign recruits serving in its armed forces, replacing standard military identification tags with numbers applied to clothing or directly to the skin.

According to Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) on August 17, the practice is intended to increase control over foreign recruits and facilitate the identification of personnel.

The markings are applied using long-lasting dyes such as henna or jagua, allowing them to remain visible for weeks and making them difficult to remove with soap and water. If a mark fades, it is reapplied.

Ukrainian officials said there have also been cases in which Russian police stopped foreigners, including students and migrant workers, and checked them for identification numbers as part of efforts to locate possible deserters.

“The system resembles practices used in Nazi concentration camps, where prisoners were assigned numbers to erase their identity, names, and legal status. In effect, the Russian occupation army is turning foreign recruits into commodities — numbered assault units,” HUR said.

According to the statement, the practice effectively reduces foreign recruits serving in Russia’s military to numbered combat units, while also making it more difficult to establish their identities after they are killed.

The agency further alleges that such marking could allow Russia to leave the bodies of killed foreign recruits unidentified, register them as missing, and avoid paying compensation to their families in Africa and Asia. This, they said, could also help Moscow conceal the actual scale of foreign personnel losses.

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At the same time Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry estimates that at least 2,982 citizens from 37 African countries have been recruited to serve in Russia’s armed forces, with approximately 486 killed in the war against Ukraine.

The ministry also said that 35 citizens from 17 African countries are currently being held as prisoners of war in Ukraine. The largest numbers of African recruits come from Kenya, Egypt, Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Algeria, and Mali.

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