Foreign citizens have been able to serve on contract in the Russian army since 2003. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Vladimir Putin began work to attract more foreign citizens, and recruitment has only increased. There are no official figures on how many foreign citizens have enlisted, but according to Ukraine's coordination unit for prisoners of war, it is about 18,000 soldiers.
One recruitment method involves Telegram channels. Raed Hammad was recruited in a Telegram channel that lures men, mainly from the Middle East, with large sums of money. When Raed Hammad was recruited in summer 2025, foreign soldiers and their families were offered Russian citizenship.
The face of the Telegram channel is a 40-year-old Russian woman, Polina Aleksandrovna Azarnych. Public documents show she previously worked as a Russian teacher for foreign students. Polina Aleksandrovna claims that a thousand men contact her every day.
By examining the Telegram channel, SVT counted 366 prospective soldiers for whom she arranged visas. The channel repeatedly urges men to make contact via closed chats, meaning significantly more than the identified individuals may have been recruited. Men from Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Algeria were found in the channel, with ages from 18 to 59.
In her personal channel, there are images of more soldiers, including a man she calls Johnny, who she says is Swedish. SVT tried to identify Johnny with facial recognition but without result, and sought comment from Polina Aleksandrovna without response. Recruitment extends to Africa, with thousands lured with job promises only to be sent to fight Ukraine, according to major media reports.
A viral video shows an African soldier with a mine taped to his stomach, insulted as 'piece of coal' and ordered to the front. Some Africans send promotional videos encouraging others to join. However, allegations of mistreatment are widespread.
Many have confided to CNN they were attracted by promises of monthly salaries up to $3,500, but say they were forced to sign contracts in Russian without translation, face racism, and never received pay. Individual cases highlight these issues. Francis went to Russia for work but was forced into military training and sent to Ukraine, with his mother Anne saying training lasted three weeks and she has had no news since October.
Charles, a Kenyan former fighter, says Africans are deliberately sent into combat; he was injured by a drone and the Russian rescue team refused to help him. He did not receive promised citizenship and fled Russia. According to an analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), no world power has had such large losses as Russia has had in a war since World War II.
Estimates of dead vary from 200,186 to 325,000.