As war losses near 2 million, Russia accused of trafficking foreign recruits from Africa, Asia

As the war in Ukraine enters its fifth year, the central challenge facing both Moscow and Kyiv is no longer territory alone. It is manpower.

Both Russia and Ukraine face a growing manpower crisis. Western estimates put Ukrainian military casualties at roughly 500,000 to 600,000 since 2022, including more than 100,000 killed, while Russia is believed to have suffered about 1.2 million casualties. Combined battlefield casualties on both sides may now be approaching two million, according to recent analyses.

Now, in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital, the Ukrainian human rights organization Truth Hounds said Russia is increasingly turning to vulnerable foreign nationals, including recruits from Africa and Asia, through coercive and deceptive recruitment practices that in some cases may amount to human trafficking.

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“The patterns of recruitment in different countries and regions are quite similar,” Truth Hounds said. “Two main categories for foreign fighters could be defined. First, persons who were already in Russia, such as students and migrant workers. Second, those who were recruited in their countries of origin.”

According to the organization, many recruits were promised civilian jobs with substantially higher salaries than in their home countries but were later compelled to sign military contracts written in Russian without translation.

“In many of these cases — both when recruitment happens outside and inside Russia — there are plenty of facts indicating potential human trafficking,” the group said.

Truth Hounds said it documented cases in which individuals detained inside Russia were beaten, tortured or otherwise coerced into signing military contracts.

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“Under such circumstances, it is difficult to characterize their enlistment in the Russian army as voluntary. Rather, these cases involve coercion into military service and exploitation — patterns that are consistent across documented cases globally, when it comes to Russian recruitment practices,” the organization said.

The group cited figures from Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War indicating that more than 18,000 foreigners had joined the Russian army as of late last year, with the number continuing to grow. Truth Hounds said its interviews with foreign prisoners of war, including several from African states, revealed similar recruitment patterns.

According to a report published by INPACT in February 2026, nearly 1,500 Africans were enlisted between 2023 and mid-2025, 316 of whom died because of a few kilometers of snow in Ukraine, a loss rate of 22%. Many others are missing or cannot be reached by their families.

At the same time, the organization cautioned that not all foreign recruits were forced to serve, noting that some joined with a full understanding of the purpose of their travel to Russia and the terms of the contract, though the proportion remains unclear.

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The allegations come as African leaders have begun publicly raising the issue. Kenya’s foreign minister said Nairobi would confront Russian authorities over the recruitment of Kenyan nationals, while South African President Cyril Ramaphosa raised concerns with Russian President Vladimir Putin following distress calls from South African citizens believed to be caught in the conflict, according to Reuters.

Truth Hounds said the legal status of foreign fighters presents a complex overlap between international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Individuals who sign contracts with Russia’s Ministry of Defense are treated as members of the armed forces and are entitled to prisoner-of-war protections, though some cases may also meet the criteria for human trafficking, creating additional legal questions.

“The main question remains how to effectively stop Russia from recruiting such individuals and hold it accountable for the ruined lives of those who have already ended up there,” the organization said.

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Moscow has previously said foreign nationals may voluntarily enlist in its armed forces. It has not publicly acknowledged coercive recruitment practices.

As the war grinds on, the battle for manpower is stretching beyond Europe’s borders, pulling in vulnerable populations from Africa and Asia and raising new diplomatic and legal challenges for governments far from the front lines.