Russian army recruitment drive targets Asian migrants

RUSSIAN enlistment officers are targeting central Asian migrant workers to increase Moscow’s invasion forces inside Ukraine, according to British intelligence.

Recruiters have visited mosques popular with workers from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, as well as immigration offices, to enticing migrants to sign up.

Special officials who can speak in Uzbek and Tajik have been deployed in the offices to make routine recruitment approaches to migrants seeking work permits, it was also reported.

The UK’S Ministry of Defence (MOD) said yesterday: “Recruiting migrants is part of the Russian ministry of defence’s attempts to fulfil its target of 400,000 volunteers to fight in Ukraine.”

“The authorities are almost certainly seeking to delay any new overt mandatory mobilisation for as long as possible to minimise domestic dissent.”

Last year, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, launched plans to recruit 400,000 soldiers to fight in Ukraine to cover the dramatic losses sustained by Russian forces. Leaked Pentagon documents last month revealed an American estimate of 189,500 to 223,000 Russian casualties since February last year.

The Kremlin, according to Western officials, has sought to keep recruitment efforts away from Russia’s main population.

Recruits are being offered lucrative sign-up bonuses of up to $2,390 (£1,887), and monthly salaries of $4,160 (£3,285), according to Radio Free Europe. The average salary in Russia is around $831 per month, according to its ministry for economic development.

Migrant workers were offered “fasttrack citizenship” in exchange for as little as six months military service. The MOD said: “These recruits are likely sent to the Ukrainian front lines, where the casualty rate is extremely high.”