The Russian authorities are intensifying efforts to attract contractors among migrant workers from the Central Asian countries to fight in Ukraine, offering them money and other enticements.
Radio Liberty reported on May 14 that in the waiting hall of Moscow's Sakharovo Migration Center that is often packed with migrant workers from Central Asia’s nations applying for work or residency permits, a poster — in Tajik, Uzbek, and Kyrgyz — hangs on the wall.
“Are you interested in obtaining Russian citizenship in a simplified way by joining the armed forces as a contractor?” the poster asks, according to Radio Liberty.
Citing several Tajik migrant workers, Radio Liberty says the permit center is reportedly also frequented by army recruiters who single out military-age men to try to convince them to join the Russian armed forces in Ukraine.
“Once you submit your application, the recruiters take you to another room for a 'consultation,' and there they start sweet-talking you into agreeing to go to the war,” one Tajik labor migrant told RFE/RL's Tajik Service in an interview on condition of anonymity.
Military recruiters “who were somewhat discreet in the past” have reportedly become more open and assertive in approaching Central Asian migrants, many claim, as Russia scrambles to recruit more fighters for its army in Ukraine.
To enhance the “pool” of potential recruits, a Russian lawmaker last week called for legislation that would make it easier for the military to call up people from Central Asia and the Caucasus who have obtained Russian citizenship.
“Mikhail Matveyev, a State Duma (Russia’s lower chamber of parliament) member, criticized naturalized citizens' reluctance to fight for Moscow, while he said the “indigenous people of Russia were dying for their homeland,” Radio Liberty said, noting that the U.S. National Security Council said early this month that more than 20,000 Russian troops have been killed and 80,000 others wounded in Ukraine since the beginning of December. Other estimates reportedly suggest Russian forces have suffered far greater losses. Moscow does not report its casualty figures.
Radio Liberty reports that despite the losses, Russia did not announce a new call-up this year after a “partial military mobilization” in September 2022 prompted thousands of men to flee abroad.
Instead, Russian authorities intensified efforts to attract contractors, both among Russian citizens and migrant workers.
From the early months of the so-called “special military operation” launched by the Russian authorities in Ukraine, Russian recruiters have targeted migrant laborers, approaching them in migration centers, mosques, and dormitories.
According to Radio Liberty, the State Duma member Mikhail Matveyev announced on May 10 that he had been studying federal laws and preparing amendments to remove any existing obstacles to the military mobilization of dual citizens. He didn't say when the bill would be presented to parliament.
In his letter to the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the lawmaker asked for proposals "for the improvement of federal legislation regarding provision for the needs of the Russian armed forces and their reserves for mobilization from the pool of individuals who have obtained Russian citizenship."
He said more than 500,000 Tajiks have received Russian passports since 2016. That is followed by 310,000 Kazakhs, 230,000 Armenians, and 170,000 Uzbeks, Matveyev added.
