Russia's recruitment of foreign fighters is exploitative: UK statement to the OSCE
Colonel Joby Rimmer, UK Senior Military Advisor, says Russia's recruitment of foreign fighters relies on deception and asks how many foreign nationals serve in its armed forces.
Thank you, Mr Chair. The United Kingdom remains unwavering in its support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders, and for a just and lasting peace. We also express our solidarity with Romania, after its F-16s shot down two Geran UAVs that had intruded into its airspace on Saturday.
Last week, the Russian delegation told this Forum that Ukraine “actively recruits foreign mercenaries in violation of international law”. It further claimed that over 20,000 foreign nationals have fought for Ukraine and stated that strikes against them would continue. Foreign nationals who serve with Ukraine are formally enlisted in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, so under international humanitarian law they are lawful combatants, not mercenaries. They are helping Ukraine use its inherent right of self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter against a war of aggression that Russia started and could end today.
When challenged by our question about Russia’s own recruiting practices, the Russian delegation was candid: foreign citizens, it explained, sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defence and thereby obtain Russian citizenship. Mr Chair, we welcome that clarification but today we would like to examine the system behind it.
Despite offering citizenship to attract foreign fighters, Russia’s recruitment model is coercive and exploitative. Research published by Amnesty International in September, drawing on interviews with recruits from Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa and Sri Lanka, documented false promises of civilian work, contracts that recruits could not read, confiscated passports, minimal training and threats against those who attempted to leave. Amnesty assessed that, in many cases, this conduct may constitute human trafficking under the UN Palermo Protocol. Russia also exploited foreigners in precarious legal situations: migrants who had overstayed their visas, and those facing criminal charges, were offered military service as the alternative to detention or deportation.
These findings are not isolated. The United States’ 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report, published this month, describes the fraudulent recruitment of more than one thousand Kenyan men to fight for the Russian military, many lured by offers of work in security or construction. Kenya’s Foreign Minister has told parliament that the recruitment of Kenyan citizens by Russia meets the definition of human trafficking. Botswana has also warned that its citizens are being deceived into combat at an alarming rate. And ODIHR, in its Ninth Interim Report, has identified the alleged predatory recruitment of foreign nationals by Russia as a new finding. This is, therefore, not merely an allegation made by one participating State. It is an emerging pattern documented by affected governments, international reporting and the OSCE’s own institutions.
Mr Chair, why does the Kremlin need to resort to these measures? On 28 September, President Putin increased the authorised strength of Russia’s Armed Forces for the fourth time this year, without offering any public explanation. Russia’s recruitment efforts now extend into its universities, migrant communities and some of the poorest countries in the world. An armed force that relies on deception and the exploitation of vulnerable foreign workers is not demonstrating strength. It is revealing the mounting human cost of sustaining its war.
We therefore ask the Russian delegation: how many foreign nationals currently serve in Russia’s Armed Forces? And what measures does Russia take to ensure that foreign recruits give free and informed consent, understand the contracts they sign, and are able to leave military service in accordance with the law? These are not peripheral matters. How a participating State recruits, commands and holds its armed forces to account lies at the heart of the Code of Conduct.
Russia could end this recruitment, and spare those whom it has deceived, today. It should agree to a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire, withdraw its forces from Ukraine’s internationally recognised territory, and engage seriously in negotiations towards a just and lasting peace.