Putin's foreign fighters - How Russia is recruiting foreign nationals for the war | DW Documentary

Russia needs more soldiers. At least 250,000 have already died in the Ukraine war. Moscow is also seeking new recruits abroad - sometimes using questionable methods.

A group of Indian nationals traveled to Russia for a vacation. They wound up on the front-line - conscripted against their will by the Russian army. And this is not an isolated case, with frequent reports of foreigners falling into the clutches of Russian recruiters. Russia needs a reliable supply of new soldiers for the war against Ukraine. But the Kremlin wants to avoid a mass mobilization at home. Instead, it is ramping up its international recruitment drive, targeting men from countries like Kenya, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cuba and Central Asia. Some are lured by money, others by promises of work or study opportunities.

Ukraine says more than 27,000 foreign fighters are now fighting on the Russian side. The film takes viewers to Ukraine, Kenya and India, features interviews with the relatives of fallen foreign soldiers, survivors and Ukrainian investigators, and reveals how Russia is exploiting economic hardship in poorer countries and, with the help of dubious intermediaries, recruiting ‘cannon fodder’ for its war against Ukraine.

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