Russia is deceiving people from Africa and Latin America to the front
російські військові на донбасі, оос
Russia is establishing large-scale mercenary recruitment operations in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, disguising these actions as “cooperation” with local governments and security agencies.
This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
The department emphasizes that the purpose of this special operation goes far beyond simply strengthening human resources for the conflict in Ukraine. According to them, Moscow is creating parallel militarized channels that can be used for hybrid tasks – from reconnaissance and sabotage to political pressure and destabilization in regions where US interests are traditionally present.
Experts warn that recruiting citizens of countries economically or politically linked to Washington undermines regional security mechanisms and trust in alliances and partnerships.
The CPA report claims that Russia is integrating its recruitment networks into criminal ecosystems — primarily in Latin America — which simplifies financing and logistics mechanisms. This, the agency believes, creates the risk of “hot spots” near the US border and could trigger forceful responses.
The Center cites a number of high-profile cases as examples of such practices. In particular, an incident broke out in Kenya when an athlete was allegedly tricked into signing a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense and sent to fight; the Kenyan Foreign Ministry, according to the CPD, recorded several similar stories. In South Africa, the Center adds, mass recruitment operations were discovered, during which women were lured to work at factories producing attack drones in the “Alabuga” zone under the guise of legal employment, but were actually exploited as forced labor.
The Center emphasizes that the Kremlin is trying to present such mechanisms as “anti-colonial” initiatives, but in practice this resembles the reproduction of colonial schemes of exploiting people – as a source of cheap labor and a resource for military operations. According to the Center’s experts, these practices destabilize entire regions and threaten international security.
As a reminder, the Russian Federation is actively involving foreign mercenaries in the war against Ukraine. According to Ukrainian intelligence, up to 25,000 Cuban citizens may be fighting on the side of the Russian Federation . This makes the Cuban contingent the largest among foreigners in the ranks of the Russian troops.
As reported, the Kremlin is actively recruiting residents of the Middle East to participate in the war against Ukraine, in particular, the Russian Federation is conducting large-scale campaigns together with Iran.
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