Russia Threatened Kyrgyz Migrants With Jail, Sent Them to Die in Ukraine

Two Kyrgyz nationals who had been working in Russia were recruited into the Russian military and later killed while fighting against Ukraine in June 2026.

According to Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (HUR) on August 4, the two men—Denis Alekseev and Dastan Tagaev—were sent to the front after signing contracts with the Russian Armed Forces. HUR identified them through documents obtained following their deaths.

Alekseev, born on May 4, 1986, signed a one-year military contract in Moscow on May 5, 2026. Before joining the Russian army, he had apparently been living in Russia as a labor migrant and received a replacement Kyrgyz passport from his country’s embassy in April.

Russian forces assigned Alekseev to serve as a rifleman following a brief period of military training. Ukrainian Security and Defense Forces killed him near the settlement of Lipove in the Donetsk region in mid-June, approximately six weeks after he signed the contract, according to HUR.

The second man, Tagaev, was born on February 24, 1983, and had been working in Novosibirsk. During a police raid on September 10, 2025, Russian authorities accused him of remaining in the country illegally and imposed a fine of 5,000 rubles.

Tagaev continued working in Russia until the end of 2025 but later signed a military contract after coming under pressure from Russian police and facing the possibility of imprisonment over expired migration documents, HUR reported.

After undergoing limited training, Tagaev was deployed to Ukraine. Ukrainian forces killed him in the Zaporizhzhia sector in June 2026.

HUR said the cases were part of Russia’s broader effort to recruit foreign labor migrants for its war against Ukraine, including through pressure linked to their immigration status or potential criminal prosecution.

Russia has also expanded foreign recruitment beyond Central Asia. Colombian POWs previously told UNITED24 Media that they had been promised high salaries or non-combat work in Russia, but were instead given weapons, rushed through training, and deployed to frontline assaults in Ukraine.

Protect Ukrainian Skies

Subscribe to Sky Defense