Russia sends thousands of immigrants to war
Despite the lack of exact numbers: The wear and tear on Russian soldiers in the war is enormous. To recruit supplies, Moscow is massively recruiting recently naturalized Russians. According to the authorities, these recruitments have an additional advantage.
Russian authorities have reportedly sent over 10,000 naturalized men to the assault war against Ukraine. "We have already captured more than 30,000 (migrants) who have obtained citizenship but did not want to register for military service, and have sent about 10,000 of them to the zone of military special operation," said the head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, at an appearance at the St. Petersburg Lawyers' Forum. Russia refers to the war against Ukraine as a military special operation.
Bastrykin was a classmate of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and is one of his close associates. Immigrants were primarily responsible for digging trenches and building fortifications. "For that, you really need strong hands," Bastrykin said.
In the past few months, security services have carried out raids in enterprises with guest workers, especially from post-Soviet states in Central Asia. Migrants who have already obtained the Russian passport were often forcibly recruited, reported Russian media. Others were promised simplified naturalization procedures upon deployment to the front.
According to Putin, there are currently a total of 700,000 Russian soldiers at the front. A portion of this consists of men who were recruited in the fall of 2022 during a partial mobilization. Since the measure was unpopular, the Kremlin intends to avoid further mobilization waves and is looking for other ways to make up for losses.
Bastrykin saw another advantage in the forced recruitment of naturalized persons: Many immigrants would leave Russia in this way, he said.
- The forced recruitment of naturalized individuals by Russian authorities for the Attack on Ukraine, as reported by Bastrykin, is a strategy to increase Russia's military strength in the ongoing Wars and conflicts, particularly the one in Ukraine, which Russia refers to as a military special operation.
- The recruitment of recently naturalized Russians for military service in Ukraine, as seen in the case of the 10,000 naturalized men sent to the war, highlights the significant role of politics in Russia's military decisions, with Moscow seeking to bypass unpopular mobilization waves and find alternative means to make up for losses.
