Camilla Jessen
Russia ramps up online ads targeting foreign recruits as war casualties surge.
Russia has dramatically expanded its online campaign to recruit foreign citizens into its military, according to new research showing a sevenfold rise in digital ads.
Recruitment spike
London-based research group OpenMinds analyzed around 132,000 recruitment ads posted on the Russian social platform VK since January 2022, TVP World reported.
By mid-2025, one in three postings targeted foreigners, up from 7% a year earlier.
The increase accelerated sharply over the summer, with 4,600 foreign-focused ads in September, more than seven times the number recorded in June.
The surge coincides with Moscow’s intensified attacks in Ukraine and its sweeping territorial demands during recent negotiations.
Many of those demands first appeared in a 28-point peace plan linked to U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian official Kirill Dmitriev, a document later revised after discussions with Kyiv and European partners.
Witkoff is expected to visit Moscow soon for further talks.
Targeting vulnerable populations
OpenMinds found that nearly half the ads aimed at foreigners targeted Russian-speaking citizens of post-Soviet states, offering promises of social benefits and fast-tracked Russian citizenship.
The Commonwealth of Independent States appeared in 46% of posts, including Belarus (6%), Kazakhstan (6%), Uzbekistan (3%), Tajikistan (3%) and Kyrgyzstan (2%).
Non-Russian-speaking countries most frequently targeted included India, Iraq, Egypt, Yemen and Bangladesh.
Ukrainian officials told CNN that many foreign recruits were lured with promises of safe work, such as warehouse jobs or driving, citing accounts from captured fighters from Sri Lanka, Cuba, Nepal and African states.
Once they signed contracts written only in Russian, many were given one or two weeks of basic training before being sent to assault units facing severe casualty rates.
Mounting losses
Interest in Russian military contracts rose sharply in 2024. Yandex search data showed a tenfold increase from post-Soviet countries over the past year.
Ukrainian officials estimate that over 18,000 foreign nationals from 128 countries have fought for Russia, with at least 3,388 killed.
These figures exclude thousands of North Korean troops deployed under a bilateral agreement.
A November assessment by the German Institute for International and Security Affairs found Russia is enlisting over 30,000 contract soldiers monthly, including nearly 38,000 in October. UK Defence Intelligence says Russia is losing around 1,000 soldiers a day, killed or wounded.
Sources: OpenMinds, TVP World, CNN, Digi24
