Jorge is in Kursk. He is one of thousands of foreigners who have signed a one-year contract with the Russian army in exchange for a high salary and a fast track to Russian citizenship. But the agreement comes with a catch.
They won't let us leave, says Manuel, who, like other foreign recruits, had his passport confiscated before being sent to the front.
Politico has interviewed four Cubans who are fighting for Russia, all under pseudonyms, as well as family members of five more. The stories are consistent. And without documents, the situation is hopeless.
They are in the hands of the Russian Defense Ministry, notes Ivan Chuviliajev of the rights organization Idite Lesom, which helps Russians flee the front.
Poster Boys
According to Ukraine, the number of foreign soldiers in the Russian army is growing daily. They come mainly from poorer countries: Cuba, Nepal, Ghana, Syria, India, Sri Lanka, Somalia. For Russia, whose forces are exhausted after nearly three years of war, they are indispensable.
But the foreigners also serve another purpose: they are poster boys for "international solidarity" and the idea that Russia is leading a broad coalition of countries fighting against US and NATO dominance.
Few of those who have survived seem to have chosen to fight on ideological grounds. Instead, it's about money: a chance to break free from poverty and create a better life for themselves and their families. Some say they didn't understand the terms.
There were no jobs in Nepal. We didn't understand that we would be sent to the front line so quickly and how terrible the situation was, said Ramchandra Khadka, one of likely thousands of Nepalese recruited by Russia, to CNN last year.
Barely Enough for Milk
A Sierra Leonean man named Richard tells The Insider that he went to Russia to be able to fulfill his daughter's dream of becoming a doctor. Once there, he was asked to sign a contract.
No one asked me if I wanted to join the army or not. The papers were in Russian and I didn't understand what they said. All they needed was my signature.
César from Cuba was 19 when he spoke to Politico in September 2023. Then he was about to fly to Moscow. In Cuba, ruled by an authoritarian regime subject to extensive American sanctions, his salary barely covered milk and toilet paper.
Here, you can be a nuclear physicist and still die of hunger, he said.
If this is the sacrifice I have to make for my family to have a good life, then I'll do it.
Since the start of the war in February 2022, Russia's power center, the Kremlin, has laid out frameworks for foreign soldiers through a series of new decrees. At the same time, the requirements for recruitment have been lowered.
Among other things, recruits are promised lucrative salaries (often equivalent to around 20,000 kronor per month, according to media reports) plus bonuses, comprehensive social benefits, and citizenship. According to a Russian decree from early 2024, a one-year contract with the military gives the right to Russian citizenship, which also applies to spouses, children, and parents of recruits.
Ukrainian authorities claimed last year that tens of thousands of "African and Asian citizens" are fighting on the Russian side.
Many foreign soldiers have either been killed or captured by Ukraine, according to authorities in their respective countries and numerous media reports. Since Russia rarely agrees to include them in prisoner exchanges, and some risk imprisonment back home if they return, they often end up in limbo.
Sources: CNN, The Kyiv Independent, Ukraine's military, the Russian Duma, and others.
