Amnesty Exposes Russian Recruitment of Forcibly Enlisted Foreigners as Human Trafficking
Report reveals foreign nationals were misled with job offers, then forced into Russia’s army upon arrival.
Published On 10 Sep 2026
A new report by Amnesty International has accused Russia of deceiving outsiders into labor positions abroad and condemning them to serve Russian forces on Ukrainian territory.
Individuals from Brazil, Colombia, Sri Lanka and South Africa were manipulated into travelling across borders solely for well‑compensated civilian or auxiliary employment roles, only to be compelled into military service upon crossing Russia’s frontier, according to the brief released last Thursday.
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Russian recruitment networks additionally targeted displaced persons living within Russia itself, coercing them to enlist in the armed services.
“Amnesty’s research demonstrates how Russia’s Armed Forces are strengthening their ranks with economically vulnerable foreign nationals and employing them as cannon fodder in the war of aggression against Ukraine,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general.
“The extent of exploitation and coercion we observed led us to conclude that in many instances this constitutes human trafficking, as defined under the United Nations Palermo Protocol,” Callamard further stated.
Fraud and deception
Amnesty International interviewed former prisoners of war stationed in two Ukrainian detention facilities during the period from 2024 through 2026.
The organization also spoke with active participants in Russian uniformed units, the family members of those servicemen, along with attorneys, human‑rights advocates and journalists.
It uncovered that local intermediaries and false online job listings successfully persuaded foreign nationals in their homelands.
A South African male who applied online for a driving position in Poland was instructed to travel to Moscow to retrieve a truck and transport it back to Poland. His spouse recounted to Amnesty that once he arrived in Moscow, everything was confiscated from him. He was told he would never travel to Poland and was being turned into a soldier.
Many signatories received promises of lucrative salaries and signing bonuses that were never delivered.
All interviewees affirmed that their liberty of movement was heavily curtailed after signing military contracts.
During basic training, recruits from Brazil and Sri Lanka disclosed that their passports and mobile devices were seized prior to their deployment onto the frontlines.
Cannon fodder
Both Russian and Ukrainian armies have conscripted thousands of non‑citizens into their forces since the outbreak began more than four‑and‑a‑half years ago.
Amnesty indicates it cannot investigate personnel presently embedded within Ukraine’s military because Russian authorities label the organization a “foreign agent,” prohibiting access to captives held inside those borders.
An estimated 28,000 foreign nationals from 136 different nations are believed to be fighting in the Russian army, with senior sources estimating around 14,000 additional North Korean troops deployed to support Ukraine’s 2024 incursion into the Kursk region.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities claim that roughly 16,000 foreigners from more than 70 countries—including nearly 40 percent hailing from Latin America—are currently serving within the Ukrainian armed forces.
Russia has publicly rejected allegations of coercing outsiders into joining its army.
