How Fake Movie Casting Calls Became Part of Russia’s Foreign Recruitment Network

Russia-linked recruiters are using fake movie auditions targeting African men as part of a broader online operation to recruit foreigners for Russia’s war against Ukraine.

According to an investigation by Politico on September 22, citing research by Code for Africa, a nonprofit African network of digital democracy and data journalism labs, one advertisement presented itself as a “global casting” call seeking African male actors for a new film project.

Code for Africa traced the advertisement, which featured an AI-generated image of Black men dressed as soldiers, to a Facebook page based in Germany.

The supposed movie casting was one part of a much larger recruitment network targeting people across Africa and Asia, as well as Belarus. Researchers identified 89 websites, seven social media accounts, including on Facebook, and 39 accounts or channels on messaging platforms linked to the operation.

Another advertisement reviewed by Politico, attributed to a group called IRC Russian Bear, showed a soldier wearing Russian flag patches and offered recruits $15,000 after signing a contract, followed by a monthly salary of $3,000.

According to the investigation, the campaigns primarily target young men facing unemployment or unstable employment, offering salaries substantially higher than what many could earn in their home countries.

Politico reported that the recruitment network also relies on Western technology. Its main recruitment brand was hosted on a server in Amsterdam, while associated websites used AI tools developed by companies in the US and Sweden. Software from an Austrian company collected applicants’ personal data before it was transferred to Russia.

Code for Africa said Meta had already removed more than 300 advertising campaigns linked to the recruiters. Researchers also found that online searches for Russian military contracts for foreigners could direct users to recruitment websites.

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World

Russia’s War Recruitment Network in Africa Is Growing Fast

May 06, 2026 11:27

Nationals of India, Sri Lanka, Cuba, Kenya, Nepal, Botswana, South Africa and other countries have previously been reported among foreigners recruited to serve with Russian forces in Ukraine.

Earlier, Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported that more than 28,000 foreign nationals had signed contracts with the Russian military, with at least 5,149 killed in combat. The recruits came from more than 48 countries, primarily across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

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