"I'm Yemeni myself. I have reported on war for the BBC for years, including on my own country's long collapse. But nothing prepared me for what I would learn while investigating Russia's recruitment of foreign fighters: the precision with which vulnerability is targeted; how promises are tailored to poverty; how citizenship becomes bait; how families are left to grieve in the dark."
"Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has dragged on into a fourth year, and its appetite for manpower is relentless. An estimated 20,000 foreign fighters have been pulled in from across the world, from countries including Nepal, Cuba, South Africa and North Korea, in what is being advertised as ideological volunteering but is, in reality, recruitment by exploitation. Back in March 2022, President Vladimir Putin publicly backed the idea of bringing men from the Middle East to fight."
An unnamed Yemeni man, Hussein, left Yemen for a promised salary and vanished into the Ukrainian frontline; his mother received a death certificate while he was later found alive. Vulnerability is being precisely targeted by recruitment networks that tailor offers to poverty, including promises of money and citizenship. Russia's invasion has created relentless demand for manpower, drawing an estimated 20,000 foreign fighters from countries such as Nepal, Cuba, South Africa and North Korea. Informal brokers and online channels funnel desperate men into contracts with Russia's military, disguising exploitation as ideological volunteering and leaving families searching and grieving.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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