Russia’s Global Recruitment Pipeline, and their trafficking routes to fill up their ranks

Human Rights Research Center
43 minutes ago
8 min read

February 3, 2026

HRRC calls upon the Russian government to immediately dismantle its predatory global recruitment infrastructure and its trafficking and exploitation of economically vulnerable citizens from the Global South. We also urge them to release all foreign nationals coerced into military service under false pretences and to allow for the safe and transparent repatriation of both the survivors and the remains of the fallen.

Maksudur Rahman, 31, who escaped after fighting for the Russian army, shows a Russian military dog tag during an interview with The Associated Press in Lakshmipur, Bangladesh, Dec. 10, 2025. [Image credit: AP Photo/Rajib Dhar]

An extensive, multi-continental investigation has unmasked a predatory Russian recruitment pipeline designed to replenish its depleted forces by trafficking economically vulnerable citizens from the Global South. Facing catastrophic losses estimated at 1,000 personnel daily, the Kremlin has hit a domestic ceiling where mass mobilization is viewed as "political suicide," evidenced by the 261,000 Russians who fled the country following the September 2022 call-up. To sustain this war of attrition without triggering a domestic uprising, Vladimir Putin signed a strategically significant decree in July 2025, authorizing foreign nationals to serve in the military and effectively industrializing a global trafficking infrastructure that weaponizes hope and economic desperation.

The recruitment follows a remarkably consistent and deceptive playbook: unregulated agents and masquerading employment firms—such as SP Global in Bangladesh or Magnit in Uganda—lure targets with fake job offers for civilian roles. Victims are promised positions as plumbers, cleaners, supermarket attendants, or security guards with monthly salaries ranging from $1,000 to $2,300, figures that represent a fortune compared to the $35 to $50 average wages in countries like Cuba or Uganda.

To secure these "opportunities," families often mortgage their homes, sell ancestral land, or take out massive high-interest loans to pay placement fees as high as $9,800 (1.2 million Bangladeshi taka or 31 lakh Indian rupees). Upon landing in Russia, the deception vanishes instantly as airport officials or "handlers" seize passports and phones. Recruits are then coerced into signing military enlistment forms written entirely in Russian, which are falsely presented as work contracts for services like cleaning or laundry.

Reports from some of the victims of the machine

Case 1: Kenya – From plumber to spotting drones from foxholes

"Stephen Oduor" (a pseudonym), a 24-year-old Kenyan, arrived in St. Petersburg believing he would earn $770 monthly as a plumber to support his family. Instead, his luggage was confiscated, and he was prodded with a gun to sign documents he could not read. With no prior training, he was deployed to the border to shoot down weaponized drones from foxholes. Oduor narrowly survived a kamikaze drone strike that decapitated the Russian soldier sitting next to him in a pickup truck before he managed to escape to the Kenyan embassy in Moscow.

Case 2: Bangladesh - "We Bought You"

Maksudur Rahman, 31, paid a broker nearly $10,000 for what he thought was a janitor position in a military camp. When he arrived and realized he had signed a combat contract, he protested, only for a Russian commander to deliver a chilling response via a translation app: "Your agent sent you here. We bought you". Rahman was beaten with shovels, kicked when he cried, and forced to advance ahead of Russian forces—a tactic designed to use foreigners as "human beacons" to draw enemy fire.

Case 3: Uganda - “... Imagine dying in a war that’s not yours.”

A Ugandan man escaped forced recruitment and detailed his experience: Richard Akantorana, 43, a father of two earning just $50 a month as a supermarket cleaner in Kampala, was lured by a high-paying security guard offer. Upon arrival in Russia, he was locked in an underground, bedbug-infested military base where he was fed only biscuits and water. He managed to escape at night and was intercepted by the Ukrainian 63rd Mechanized Brigade near Lyman. He now warns: "Imagine dying in a war that is not yours... It is better to stay in Africa with your children".

Case 4: Nigeria – Dropped in the middle of nowhere with no passport

Oloko, a resident of Kwara State, was lured by a fraudulent Facebook advertisement promising a $1,500 monthly salary for private security, only to have his documents seized and to face abandonment in a bush after refusing to sign a military contract under the false pretense of "kitchen work". Similarly, Bankole Manchi, an auto mechanic promised a high-paying construction job, was instead funneled into a military camp where he was designated a "disposable fighter" and sent into frontline combat, resulting in a gunshot wound and subsequent capture by Ukrainian forces. These cases reflect a broader predatory infrastructure where unregulated agents use "bait and switch" tactics to funnel misled Nigerian citizens into lethal meat assaults to avoid a Russian domestic political crisis.

EBZ Report - The exploitation of women in a drone factory

The recruitment network extends beyond combat to labor exploitation, such as within the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan. Young women from African nations and Brazil are lured with promises of work or study, only to be forced into assembling military drones. These victims are often featured in Russian propaganda videos to falsely deny that the facility is manufacturing weapons, serving as human shields and props for the Kremlin's publicity campaigns.

Foreign recruits are reportedly systematically treated as "disposables" (beacons or "mayachki") by Russian commanders, with new recruits’ life expectancy being around 72 hours. Drone footage and survivor testimonies reveal they are often ordered at gunpoint to walk ahead of Russian assault units to detonate landmines or draw fire so Russian troops can advance safely. A viral video recently surfaced showing a Russian general mocking a group of singing African recruits as "disposables" shortly before they were sent to the front to "start singing differently".

As the global scale of Moscow's predatory recruitment infrastructure becomes undeniable, the international community has begun a fragmented but increasingly urgent counter-offensive against what investigators describe as an industrialization of human trafficking for war. By late 2025, investigators identified more than 18,000 foreign nationals from 128 countries who had been funneled into the Russian military machine. This global "stacking" of the ranks has resulted in a staggering human toll, with at least 3,388 confirmed foreign fatalities, including significant clusters of approximately 70 deaths from Nepal, 40 from Bangladesh, and 26 from India. Beyond these recognized nationalities, the Kremlin has also weaponized its own immigration system, forcibly deploying 20,000 recently naturalized citizens to the front lines after systematic raids on migrant communities.

In South Asia, the progressive discovery of these scams has led to unprecedented diplomatic and legal retaliation. Nepal has taken the extraordinary step of barring its citizens from traveling to either Russia or Ukraine for work, while simultaneously demanding that Moscow return hundreds of its recruited nationals and repatriate the remains of the fallen. Similarly, the Indian government utilized high-level diplomatic channels to demand the immediate discharge of its "misled" citizens, following a federal investigation that dismantled a sophisticated trafficking network which had lured victims under the guise of safe overseas employment. In Bangladesh, where victims like Maksudur Rahman paid nearly $10,000 in placement fees only to be beaten with shovels upon arrival, police investigators have begun charging local middlemen and agents associated with defunct firms like SP Global for their roles in these life-threatening deceptions.

The African continent has emerged as a primary theater for this exploitation, with 1,436 identified recruits from 36 different nations being lured into what Ukrainian officials describe as "contracts equivalent to a death sentence." The Kenyan government has initiated a complex repatriation effort, successfully bringing home 28 citizens since December 2025 and engaging in direct negotiations with both Moscow and Kyiv to secure the release of those still trapped or held as prisoners of war. Simultaneously, South African authorities have launched a high-profile investigation through the elite Hawks police unit, treating the recruitment of 17 trapped nationals as a suspected crime against the state. This investigation has extended to political figures and media personalities accused of facilitating the pipeline, such as the daughter of former South African president Jacob Zuma, underscoring the depth to which Russian recruitment networks have attempted to infiltrate local institutions.

The blowback has extended to the Middle East and Latin America, where governments are attempting to seal the "jurisdictional gaps" that Russia exploits. An Iraqi court recently delivered a landmark life sentence to a human trafficker convicted of operating a recruitment ring for the Russian military, while Cuban authorities have worked to dismantle similar networks operating on their soil since late 2023. Despite these efforts, investigators warn that the Kremlin’s tactic of using "third-country" nationals serves to obscure state responsibility and complicate international legal responses. By treating these men as "disposables" or "human beacons" (mayachki) to draw enemy fire, Moscow continues to sustain a battle of endurance while shielding its domestic audience from the true casualty statistics of its unsustainable assaults.

Glossary

Alabuga Special Economic Zone: the largest and most successful special economic zone of industrial and production type in Russia.
Bait and Switch: an instance when the retailer offers for sale (switches) an advertised item for another, less expensive or desirable item that is not the same as the originally advertised item.
Bush: a dense woody plant, smaller than a tree, with many branches arising from the lower part of the stem.
Coerced: persuade (an unwilling person) to do something by using force or threats.
Defunct: no longer existing or functioning.
Foxhole: a hole in the ground used by troops as a shelter against enemy fire or as a firing point.
Global South: the nations of the world which are regarded as having a relatively low level of economic and industrial development, and are typically located to the south of more industrialized nations.
Industrializing: develop industries in (a country or region) on a wide scale.
Jurisdictional: relating to the official power to make legal decisions and judgements.
Kamikaze Drone: is a weapon with a warhead that is typically designed to loiter until a target is designated, then crash into it.
Masquerading: be disguised or passed off as something else.
Mass Mobilization: a process that engages and motivates a wide range of partners and allies at national and local levels to raise awareness.
Meat Assaults: a tactic where, instead of using heavy armor or sophisticated maneuvering, commanders send infantry soldiers directly into fire to overwhelm or identify enemy firing positions.
Naturalized Citizens: someone who has acquired citizenship in a country other than their country of birth through a legal process.
Playbook: a comprehensive, documented set of strategies, tactics, procedures, and best practices designed to guide actions and ensure consistent outcomes during conflicts, operations, or competitions.
Predatory: seeking to exploit others.
Pretences: an attempt to make something that is not the case appear true.
Repatriation:the return of someone to their own country.
Retaliation: the action of returning a military attack; counter-attack.
Trafficking: unlawfully transport or coerce (someone) in order to benefit from their work or service, typically in the form of forced labour or sexual exploitation.
War of Attrition: a prolonged period of conflict during which each side seeks to gradually wear down the other by a series of small-scale actions.
Weaponizes: exploit for the purpose of attacking a person or group, or for spreading discord.

References

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Russia’s Global Recruitment Pipeline, and their trafficking routes to fill up their ranks

Reports from some of the victims of the machine

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