Citizens of Bangladesh and at least 28 other countries have been forcibly and fraudulently recruited into Russia’s armed forces after being promised civilian jobs or well-paid employment, according to the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.
The commission said international human trafficking networks operating across multiple countries had worked in coordination to deceive and coerce foreign nationals into joining the Russian military. Many of the victims have been killed, injured, captured or reported missing.
The findings were published yesterday (26 October) in an updated report prepared for presentation to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The commission investigated the recruitment of citizens from 48 countries into the Russian armed forces and found direct evidence of fraud and coercion involving nationals of 29 countries. Besides Bangladesh, the list includes India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Philippines, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Uzbekistan, spanning Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America.
All identified victims of trafficking and deception were men aged between 18 and 60, mainly from socioeconomically and educationally marginalised communities. Recruiters exploited their financial vulnerability by promising attractive salaries, the report said.
How Bangladeshis were recruited
The commission obtained copies of business visas issued to Bangladeshi recruits to enter Russia. The documents indicated that they had been invited by civilian companies, concealing the actual purpose of their recruitment into the Russian armed forces.
Recruiters advertised civilian jobs through social media and agencies, offering positions such as security guards, drivers, mechanics, electricians, construction workers, welders and technicians. The offers often included promises of high salaries, accommodation, Russian citizenship, pensions and other benefits.
Recruiting agents arranged visas, air tickets and accommodation, sometimes moving groups of recruits through several countries before they reached Russia. The fees charged by agents ranged from $400 to $8,000, depending on the country or region, and were either paid before departure or deducted from recruits’ salaries.
Soon after arriving in Russia, the recruits were taken to temporary accommodation and handed over to the Russian armed forces. Their passports and phones were often confiscated, and they were forced to sign contracts with the Russian Defence Ministry.
The contracts were written entirely in Russian, which many recruits could not understand. Some were threatened with violence when they refused to sign.
The wife of one recruited man told the commission: “They took his passport and just told him to sign here, here and here on the contract. It was only in Russian. He was totally pressured and had no choice.”
Recruits sent to the front after brief training
The commission found that recruits received basic military training lasting from just 20 minutes to a few days, and in some cases up to a month, before being deployed to Ukraine.
They were assigned dangerous frontline duties, including assaults and advances against Ukrainian positions, as well as digging trenches, securing territory and transporting food and water.
Many were killed or went missing shortly after deployment, while others were injured or captured. Some recruits reported that almost everyone in their groups had died on the front lines.
The report said the victims and their families faced significant difficulties in obtaining information about their whereabouts or securing their return. Families often lost contact with recruits after their deployment, while agents stopped answering calls or blocked their numbers. Some families learned of deaths through social media, news reports or fellow soldiers.
The loss or disappearance of family members also caused lasting psychological distress and financial hardship. Many recruits had left previous jobs and incurred debts to pay recruitment fees, while families struggled to recover promised salaries or compensation.
UN identifies trafficking and human rights violations
The commission concluded that the recruitment operations constituted human trafficking, citing deception, fraud, abuse of vulnerability, coercion and the transfer of recruits across borders for exploitation in military service.
It found similar recruitment methods across different countries, including the use of civilian job offers, coordinated travel arrangements, misleading visa documentation and forced signing of military contracts after arrival in Russia.
The report also documented cases in which foreign nationals already in Russia were coerced into military service. Some were detained by police or held in prisons and pressured to sign contracts under threats of prosecution, solitary confinement, violence or extended prison sentences.
The commission said the circumstances of recruitment and deployment violated fundamental human rights, including the rights to life, liberty, health and humane treatment.
It also clarified that the victims were not mercenaries. Once enrolled in the Russian armed forces, they acquired combatant status and, if captured or surrendered, were entitled to the protections afforded to prisoners of war under the Third Geneva Convention.
Calls for Russia and other countries to act
The commission urged Russia to end the recruitment of foreign nationals through inducement, deception or coercion, immediately discharge foreign nationals who were victims of trafficking, and provide them with appropriate protection and assistance.
It also called on Russian authorities to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the recruitment networks and cooperate with national jurisdictions that have opened investigations.
The commission recommended that countries whose citizens had been trafficked cooperate with Russia to secure their nationals’ release, investigate recruitment networks, raise public awareness about deceptive job offers and ensure that trafficking victims are treated as victims rather than prosecuted for having served in the Russian armed forces as a result of trafficking.
It also urged Ukraine to work with the victims’ home countries on appropriate arrangements for foreign recruits held as prisoners of war, in accordance with international humanitarian law.
BRAC had raised concerns earlier
Last year, BRAC’s Migration Programme also raised concerns about Bangladeshis being deceived into joining the Russia-Ukraine war.
Citing reports published in Bangladeshi media, BRAC said at least 54 Bangladeshis had been killed in the conflict over the preceding several years.
The latest UN findings highlight the international scale of the recruitment networks and the risks faced by vulnerable jobseekers who accept apparently legitimate offers of employment abroad.
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