For the war against Ukraine, Russia is recruiting foreigners from remote and impoverished countries. Some of the candidates know what they're getting into, others are deliberately misled. In the end, they all end up at the front, where they become "cannon fodder".
"So I Don't Starve"
Juan Viondi Mendoza says he took this step to avoid "starving" in Cuba. He left for Russia in September 2023 after being promised money. He also needed them to travel to America, where his brother Michael Duro was being treated for cancer in Kentucky. DW spoke to him, as well as to relatives of other foreigners from Bangladesh and Kenya who had gone to Russia to fight in the war in Ukraine.
"Ioan was promised $2,000 a month - a huge sum by Cuban standards, where the average salary is around $20," says his brother Michael. WhatsApp chats with an intermediary make it clear that Ioan was asked to sign a contract with the Russian army. Michael tried to stop him - unsuccessfully: "When I saw him later, I was shocked: he was standing in some field in Russia, chest-deep in snow, wearing a military uniform and a Kalashnikov, which was taller than him."
Ioan tried to desert, but he was alone in a foreign country, deep in the war zone and without a passport – he didn't know exactly what to do or where to go. He called his brother and asked him for help. Thousands of miles away - in Kentucky, Michael tried day and night to help his brother – they continued to talk almost every day, until one day the calls suddenly stopped.
"Isn't his body buried in a forest in Russia"
Oscar Kagola Mutoka, a former soldier from Kenya, also went to Russia – in 2025, his father Charles Mutoka told DW: "He came and told me that he had found a job in Russia. I told him that it was very dangerous to go there because he would end up in the army."
However, Oscar did not listen to him. And his father turned out to be absolutely right - in the only photo that Oscar sent from Russia, he was dressed in a Russian military uniform. The young man's father does not know whether his son knew that he was going to the army. A few weeks later, Oscar was killed. His wife and parents learned about it through unofficial channels.
His family waited for months for his body to be returned home - in vain, although the Kenyan government promised help. In May, they finally held a symbolic funeral - without a body. "The worst thing is that I have no idea whether he was buried or his body was buried in a forest in Russia", says father Charles Mutoka.
"They treated us very badly"
Fatima Begum and Akram Mondol from Bangladesh are lucky because their only son, Arman, returned alive from the war in Ukraine. But he has impaired health and a ruined future. "I can't get rid of these memories - how people die, with disfigured faces, severed limbs or bodies torn apart by mines. It's terrible," Arman Mondol told DW.
Like millions of young people in Bangladesh, Arman also dreamed of working abroad. His father took out loans and sold land to pay a broker. Then Arman went to Russia on a tourist visa - promised him a job in the food industry, but instead forced him to sign a contract with the army. "They treated us very badly. We were always at the front while they stayed in the rear. They used us as human shields", says Arman.
During one mission, their car ran over a mine. "Only two of us survived - I was wounded in the leg. Then a drone wounded me again", he says. Arman somehow managed to escape. He returned to Bangladesh, where he was left without help or compensation: "My medicine costs between $65 and $75 a month. I don't know how to pay for it. I can't earn enough with this leg," he complains. Now he wanders around the village where he was born, jobless but hoping to find some new opportunity online.
"Global system of fraudulent recruitment"
Moscow is actively recruiting men from crisis regions around the world, says Ilya Nuzov of the International Federation for Human Rights. "Russia has built a global system of fraudulent recruitment, targeting foreign citizens who are economically, socially or legally vulnerable, to exploit them in the war against Ukraine. The methods range from luring to coercion," he told DW.
The policy has sparked international outrage. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov acknowledged the participation of foreign fighters but called them "volunteers": "Russia is not recruiting anyone. Volunteers are participating in this special military operation in accordance with Russian law."
DW has asked the Russian government for more information, but has not received a response. According to some reports, Russia has stopped recruiting soldiers from some "friendly" countries in February. "The influx from some countries has been reduced or temporarily stopped. But Russia is compensating for this by recruiting people from other countries. The number of foreign fighters continues to grow," claims Ilya Nuzov. Ukrainian intelligence services speak of more than 27,000 foreign fighters fighting on Russia's side. Most are from Central Asia - but there are also those from Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia.
"What is this war? What does it have to do with us? Leave Africa alone. This is not our war. They will pay dearly for sending our African sons to their war," says Charles Mutoka, the father of Oscar, who died in Russia. The battlefields in Ukraine are far from his village in Kenya. But the war is felt here too – as well as in Cuba, Bangladesh and other countries from which Russia recruits fighters.
Author: Anastasia Klein