Russia's underhanded strategy: Here's how they're recruiting new soldiers
9:27 PM EST, December 10, 2023
As reported by the "BBC," Russia is purportedly recruiting foreign migrants, who were arrested during a recent operation along its border with Finland, to fight in its war in Ukraine. In early December, Vladimir Putin issued a decree intending to expand the military by adding 170,000 troops. After this growth, Russia's armed forces should tally up to 2 million personnel.
Anton Heraszczenko highlighted that Russia targets foreign migrants, arrested near the Finnish border, enlisting them for service in Ukraine. These foreigners were initially detained for immigration violations and faced deportation. Then, according to Herashchenko, military personnel approached some of these detained migrants, offering them "employment" serving the state.
The military promised these migrants attractive salaries, medical care, and a guarantee to remain in Russia following a one-year contractual engagement with the army - reported the "BBC", citing an individual named Awad from Somalia (name has been changed for safety).
Fearing deportation back to Somalia, this man signed the agreement along with five other Somalis, five Arab men, and a Cuban.
They were rounded up into a bus and transported to southern Russia, as per the BBC report.
"Awad" discloses that they were situated in a sizable tent camp on the Ukraine border. When these foreigners realized they had been recruited into the war, they demanded the termination of their contracts. In retaliation, military personnel threatened them with imprisonment for violation of military regulations, but later declared that they would be deported.
Court proceedings for this case are ongoing. Somali radio station, Kulmiye, has reported that about 60 Somalis are confined in Russian detention centers, where military recruiters have approached them. A minimum of eight have agreed to enlist in the Russian army.
Putin's new decree to increase Russia's Army
In early December, Vladimir Putin signed a decree allocating a workforce of 2,209,130 for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, of which 1,320,000 are intended to be soldiers.
In addition, Putin commanded the Russian government to grant the necessary funds from the federal budget to the Russian Ministry of Defense, to facilitate smooth execution of the decree.
