Amnesty International accuses Russia of human trafficking foreign recruits to fight in Ukraine

Human trafficking allegations

Amnesty International released a report on 10 September in Kyiv accusing Russian authorities of tricking foreign nationals into military service on Ukrainian front lines through practices amounting to human trafficking. The rights organization conducted interviews between 2024 and 2026 with prisoners of war held in two Ukrainian camps, as well as foreign fighters, their families, lawyers, and journalists. Recruits identified in the investigation originated from countries including Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. Amnesty concluded that the recruitment violates the United Nations Palermo Protocol due to the systematic use of fraud, deception, and physical coercion.

Amnesty International's secretary general, Agnès Callamard, condemned the methods during the presentation of the findings.

Amnesty's research demonstrates how Russia's Armed Forces are bolstering their ranks with economically vulnerable foreign nationals and using them as cannon fodder in the war of aggression against Ukraine.

Deceptive recruitment schemes

The report identifies the typical recruit as an economically vulnerable man under 40 years of age from the Global South. Recruiters used local agents and misleading online job postings for lucrative civilian positions in construction, information technology, logistics, and security. In one case cited by Amnesty, a South African applicant who accepted a commercial driving job in Poland was instructed to transit through Moscow, where authorities seized his documents and forced him into military service. A Brazilian national named Pedro was sent to a military training facility after believing he had signed an employment contract for an IT role. Upon arrival, recruits had their passports and mobile phones confiscated, were forced to sign military contracts in Russian that they could not read, and were deployed to front lines after less than two weeks of training.

Coercion of migrants inside Russia

Beyond overseas recruitment, Russian authorities systematically targeted foreign workers and refugees already residing in the country. Amnesty official Aymeric Elluin explained that state agencies exploited individuals whose work permits or residence visas were expiring. Instead of facing deportation, migrants were offered positions as non-combat personnel, such as cooks or drivers, without disclosure that the work would occur in combat zones. A Sri Lankan national named Dinesh was coerced into military service following the expiration of his Russian work permit, received two weeks of training, and was captured by Ukrainian forces two months later. Amnesty reported that state entities, including the police and the interior and justice ministries, are complicit in the trafficking chain.

Obviously, there are many individuals who work for the Russian state who know that the people they recruit to go to the front line are victims of trafficking. They are complicit in this phenomenon and they should be held accountable.

Scale and international reactions

Ukrainian government estimates from April 2026 indicate that more than 28,000 foreign nationals from 136 countries have served in the Russian military, up from an estimate of at least 27,000 from 135 countries in March. These figures exclude approximately 14,000 North Korean soldiers deployed in 2024 to counter Ukraine's offensive in the Kursk region. Traditional migrant source countries, such as Tajikistan, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, represent the largest foreign cohorts. Ukraine also employs foreign combatants, particularly from Colombia, though Amnesty noted it cannot inspect prisoners held in Russia because Moscow designated the organization a foreign agent. The Kremlin did not publicly respond to the allegations, while governments in Kenya and Ghana have demanded that Russia halt the recruitment of their citizens.