Though the true scale of Putin’s foreign legion remains unclear, publicly available evidence suggests the total number of foreign recruits runs into the tens of thousands. Helping the Russian leader to avoid further unpopular mobilisations among his own citizens, the Kremlin is outsourcing parts of its war to some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.
“Russia has cast its net wide for replacements; volunteers, foreign mercenaries, criminals, North Koreans and ad hoc mobilisations. These men from different pools of meat have kept Russia fighting,” Foreman said. “Of course they are treated as cannon fodder, are low grade, endure terrible conditions, and suffer hideous racism.”
Russia has gained troops from across the globe to bolster its military forceNorth Korea
Last November, North Korea became the first country to formally deploy troops to aid Russia in Ukraine. Ukrainian forces reported troops from the country forming part of a Russian offensive in the Kursk region – a southern Russian region which was partially captured by Ukrainian forces earlier this year.
South Korea estimate North Korean casualties to have reached over 600, including six officers who were reportedly killed in a Ukrainian missile strike.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un pose for a photo during a signing ceremony of the new partnership in Pyongyang (Photo: Kristina Kormilitsyna)Putin said: “The Russian people will never forget the heroism of the Korean special forces. We will always honour the Korean heroes who gave their lives for Russia and for our shared freedom, alongside their brothers-in-arms from the Russian Federation.”
However, the coalition has been far from successful. According to Ukrainian and American officials, North Korean troops operate “rather autonomously” and were often an “unwanted distraction” for Russian troops in Kursk.
North Korean troops march during a parade in Pyongyang (Photo: KCNA)A Ukrainian military intelligence officer said North Korean soldiers “usually killed themselves” when faced with capture. He added: “The North Koreans are fairly useless in warfare but there presence in Ukraine represents the growing relationship between Russia and its allies.”
According to US and Western intelligence sources cited by Reuters, Chinese mercenaries – believed to be veterans or former security personnel – are not formally linked to Beijing but are present on the battlefield in order to study the conflict and send information back to China.
One of two Chinese soldiers Volodymyr Zelensky said were captured by Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region (Photo: Telegram/@Volodymyr Zelensky)In a statement on X, formally Twitter, Zelensky said intelligence suggested the number of Chinese soldiers in Russia’s army was “much higher than two” and the soldiers were captured during a gunfight with six Chinese soldiers.
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Dr Havrén said Chinese troops are observing the “tactics and outcomes” of US and Nato capabilities in the battlefield to help plan for potential future confrontations.
Africa
Hundreds of African men are reportedly fighting for Russia in Ukraine. As the Russian military’s “meatgrinder” operation has cost the country thousands of casualties, Russian authorities have looked to recruit from areas where they hold significant influence.
Men hailing from Senegal, Ghana and Cameroon have joined units referred to as “Black Wagner”. These fighters, deployed across eastern Ukraine, are often under-equipped and poorly trained, serving as expendable assets on the front lines.
Senegalese Malick Diop recounts how he was enlisted in the Russian army (Photo: Ukraine Defence Ministry)Milosz Bartosiewicz, a research fellow at the Centre for Eastern Studies (CES), said Russia had successfully recruited fighters from at least 20 different African countries using methods which are “basically human trafficking”.
“They promised them that their families, in case they die, will be provided with some financial support, but it’s not clear if that ever comes.”
According to a France 24 investigation, many African recruits were duped into fighting in Ukraine with promises of lucrative wages, employment opportunities, or Russian citizenship.
Russian mercenaries in northern Mali. The Wagner Group has become one of Russia’s strongest and most notorious foreign policy tools (Photo: French army via AP)
Men are recruited by agents working for the Russian state and presented with contracts written in Russian – a language they do not speak – to become conscripted into the war, according to France 24’s report.
Over 350 fighters from Central Asia have died in the conflict, according to figures released by Ukraine’s Defence Ministry.
Vladimir Putin on a visit to the Russian 201 military base in Tajikistan (Photo: Kremlin)This, according to a recent report by the Atlantic Council, leaves them open for exploitation and recruitment to the frontline.
Bartosiewicz said labour migrants from Central Asia who came to Russia in order to work were brought over through organised campaigns set up to “enforce” them into signing military contracts.
Syria and Yemen
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Moscow has recruited around 2,000 Syrians, many of them drawing from the country’s special forces.
Fighters enlisted from the country mainly came from the Syrian government’s troops, who fought alongside Russian forces to secure Assad’s leadership in 2015.
Putin and former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad Syria (Photo: Reuters)
Casualty reports soon followed. In November 2022, SOHR confirmed that 10 Syrian mercenaries had been killed in Ukraine, including a young man who reportedly died while fighting alongside Russian forces on the frontline in the Eastern region of Luhansk.
Dr Joe Devanny of the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, said: “Using foreign fighters is a way for Russia to increase numbers whilst mitigating the domestic costs of the war.
Similar recruitment schemes have reportedly operated in Yemen, where intermediaries are accused of using deceit to secure recruits before transporting them to Russia.
Other nations
The CES estimates that thousands of citizens have been deployed from countries in the Global South, including Cuba, Nepal, Malaysia and Afghanistan.
POWs from Cuba, Nepal, Sierra Leone and Somalia said they were lured with promises of high wages, or tricked (Photo: Anatolii Stepanov)The Nepalese government has banned its citizens from seeking employment in Russia or Ukraine and formally requested the return of both survivors and the bodies of those killed.
Several hundred Cubans are also believed to have been enlisted to fight by Russian recruitment networks in the country. The Cuban foreign ministry condemned the trafficking of mercenaries, but the country’s ambassador to Moscow said there was no objection to Cubans serving in Russia “as long as it is legal”.
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