BEIRUT — The advert was easy: Join one yr to battle on Russia’s aspect in “the particular navy operation zone” — i.e. the struggle in Ukraine — and get citizenship, free healthcare, cash and land.
It was one among many promotions cropping up on the messaging platform Telegram starting in 2024, shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin decreed international nationals combating within the military’s ranks would obtain passports for themselves and their households. Since then, journey businesses and brokers have drawn folks from all around the world to affix what they name Russia’s “elite worldwide battalion,” dangling a raft of advantages to draw would-be recruits.
For Raed Hammad, a 54-year-old Jordanian man who labored as a cab driver till a herniated disk made sitting in a automotive seat all day untenable, it appeared like the chance he by no means present in his residence nation. He contacted a Russian businesswoman, Polina Alexandrovna, whose quantity was on the Telegram advert, and despatched his passport info. In August, he obtained a visa and flight ticket and flew to Moscow.
(Different media studies put Alexandrovna’s final identify as Azarnykh. It’s unclear if her identify is a pseudonym.)
“As a 54-year-old who was sick, he had a tough time discovering employment right here in Jordan. When he discovered this job, they usually accepted him with a really engaging wage and advantages, he didn’t suppose twice,” stated Lamees Hammad, his spouse, in a tearful video deal with she posted on social media in September. Due to his age, Lamees Hammad added, her husband assumed he would work as a driver or a prepare dinner; she insisted he repeatedly confirmed with Alexandrovna that he wouldn’t serve on the entrance line.
“He needed to offer for our youngsters, to present them what he couldn’t give them previously,” Lamees Hammad stated. Hammad is a father of 4 sons, the youngest of whom is 13.
However days after signing a 17-page military contract that Hammad couldn’t learn — he was denied a Russian translator and wasn’t given entry to WiFi to translate utilizing his telephone, in response to his spouse — he discovered himself bunkered in a drone-stalked ahead place someplace in Russian-occupied southeastern Ukraine.
“He’s dealing with every kind of hazard … If a rifle is raised in his face, he can’t even run. They’re being handled like livestock over there,” Lamees Hammad stated in a current interview with a Jordanian TV channel, including that Hammad contacted Alexandrovna and begged to interrupt his contract however was advised he must pay 500,000 rubles — nearly $6,000 — to take action.
Russian navy personnel, draped in Russian flags, seem after a prisoner swap with Ukraine on June 24.
(Russian Protection Ministry/Anadolu through Getty Pictures)
Correct figures are onerous to return by, nevertheless it’s clear that Hammad isn’t alone in combating below Russia’s banner for advantages, with estimates placing the variety of international fighters in Russian military ranks within the tens of hundreds. Many come from deprived international locations within the Center East, Africa and South and East Asia.
Some 2,000 Iraqis are thought to have enlisted, however press studies point out hundreds becoming a member of from Egypt, Algeria, Yemen and Jordan. Fighters from Nepal, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Cuba and Syria, who previously got here in vital numbers, are now not allowed to affix, in response to the Russian protection ministry.
Foreigners have additionally served on the opposing aspect, with Ukrainian officers stating previously that roughly 20,000 fighters from 50 international locations joined Ukraine’s Worldwide Legion, together with round 3,000 Iraqis.
Within the Russian navy, lots of the enlisted foreigners got here to Russia first as college students, however their visas lapsed and they don’t wish to return residence. A big quantity additionally journey to Moscow on vacationer visas after they’re authorised by the navy. As soon as in Russia, they go to places of work of corporations like Alexandrovna’s and signal a contract with the Russian ministry of protection; others are met by a dealer and a Russian officer on the airport.
Gives differ, however recruits can obtain a signing bonus of 1.5 million rubles (round $17,000), and relying on the place they battle, get a month-to-month wage ranging between $2,500 to $3,500 — a life-changing quantity in international locations like Egypt, the place the common wage barely exceeds $300.
Coaching lasts 4 to 6 weeks and contains language instruction so foreigners can observe primary instructions in Russian. They obtain citizenship quickly after they be a part of, and are given a two-week paid trip six months into their one-year deployment. If they’re killed or wounded, their households can declare the cash and citizenship.
Among the many recruitment advertisements, which seem in Arabic and different languages, Alexandrovna’s channel retains up a gradual rhythm of posts extolling the Russian military’s victories in Ukraine.
Alexandrovna herself seems in a number of pictures taken with recruits after they first land in Russia; others depict international troopers after they obtain their citizenship, smiling to the digital camera and proudly displaying off their passports. Her purchasers look like largely from the Arab world and elements of Africa.
“Every of my troopers is a supply of delight,” she writes in a single submit, saying that they add to the “victory in opposition to the neo-Nazis from Ukraine.”
“Each soldier should proudly and steadfastly defend the brand new homeland of Russia, as a result of Russia turns into a brand new homeland for every of them!” she writes.
Regardless of the dangers, there’s no lack of curiosity: A glance on Alexandrovna’s Telegram channel, titled “Buddy of Russia” and that includes an image of Putin, reveals greater than 22,000 subscribers. One other channel, run by an Iraqi man who calls himself Bahjat, has nearly 30,000.
Members of a thousands-strong Telegram neighborhood group run by an Iraqi with the nickname Abbass the Supporter — who served within the Russian navy for 3 years however now works as a dealer and solutions questions on deployments on his TikTok channel — take part in chats asking how shortly they’ll get their visa and journey.
When contacted by The Occasions, Alexandrovna denied giving false info to would-be recruits however didn’t reply detailed questions on Hammad. Nonetheless, it’s unclear how Hammad concluded he would serve in rear positions: Most advertisements on Alexandrovna’s channel explicitly say foreigners should battle in Ukraine, with no point out of having the ability to be a part of as a driver or prepare dinner, and in any case, these choices are made by the protection ministry.
The E-visa kind inquires about navy expertise. Bahjat, who spoke on situation of solely giving his first identify, stated these coming to the Russian military from overseas ought to anticipate to enter fight, and that breaking the contract dangers imprisonment.
“What, you suppose a rustic goes to present you cash and citizenship so that you come and prepare dinner?” he stated in a WhatsApp chat.
“I’ll give it to you straight. Everybody coming right here goes to the frontline and to the struggle. Anybody saying in any other case is talking nonsense.”
The Jordanian ministry didn’t reply questions on Hammad, however authorized consultants say governments have little recourse to repatriate their residents in the event that they signed a contract, except they’ll show they did so below duress.
Lamees Hammad has been pleading with Jordan’s King Abdullah and authorities officers to speak with the Russian international ministry and to carry her husband residence. However within the meantime, she stated, she hoped the Jordanian authorities would at the least block Telegram channels like Alexandrovna’s to forestall others from following in Hammad’s steps.
“Individuals ought to know in the event that they do that,” she stated, “they’re going to their dying.”
