The independent Russian news site “Important Stories (iStories)” studied a leak from Moscow’s medical database – the Unified Medical Information and Analytical System (EMIAS) – that was revealed after the capital’s city halls IT systems were hacked by the “DumpForum” group in April 2024.
Examination of the data revealed that, in Moscow alone, more than 1,500 foreign mercenaries from almost 50 countries were recruited for Russia’s war in Ukraine between April 2023 and May 2024. This is despite Russian President Vladimir Putin having declared in September 2023 that, “We have no need to invite people from outside to fight… 300,000 [Russian] citizens have signed contracts who came as volunteers.”
In addition to information on the numbers and names of foreigners involved, the iStories report reveals how Moscow’s authorities tried to obscure the way their recruitment has been carried out.
It found that a “recruitment center” was established in early 2023 at an apartment block at Building 1 at Ulitsa Yablochkova 5, in Moscow’s Timiryazevsky District. According to the report, the registration office was located on the first floor and a medical center, in which pre-mobilization medicals were held, was located on the third floor.
EMIAS documentation for recruits to Russia’s armed forces includes information about their residence. A review of this documentation found that almost 300 of the identified foreigners said they resided in apartment 302 at Ulitsa Yablochkova 5 – on the same floor as the medical center.
The data leak also provides evidence of the speed at which the recruitment process for foreign volunteers was completed.
The volunteering procedure required each potential fighter to provide a photograph, passport and other documents, and fill out a questionnaire at the center’s reception, after which they were issued with a ticket before proceeding. iStories highlighted the case of a Nepalese mercenary “Rabin Rai” who was issued his ticket at 12:34 on Sept. 16, 2023, and was registered in the EMIAS about 30 minutes later.
Other documents showed that, following this induction, each mercenary was issued with a bank card and ordered to report to the “Avangard” training center, located in “Patriot Park” in the Odintsovo district of Moscow. The data of another Nepalese volunteer showed he was required to report there the next day when he published a photo on social media of himself already wearing Russian uniform.
Foreign mercenaries reportedly spent about two weeks in Avangard awaiting orders before being sent for an unspecified period of training ahead of being dispatched to the front.
Most foreign volunteers that passed through the Yablochkova center came from Nepal (603 in total), followed by 64 from Sri Lanka, 51 from China, and 43 from India. iStories said that apart from these Asian countries, at least two Americans and several dozen volunteers from Western Europe were identified along with more than 70 from Middle Eastern countries including Egypt, Iran, and Syria.