Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and the Foreign Ministry launched a new online platform on Monday, May 25, aimed at exposing Russia’s recruitment of foreign nationals for the war against Ukraine.
The new resource, StopRussianRecruiters.org, publishes information about Russian recruitment networks, methods and individuals allegedly involved in sending foreigners to fight for Russia.
According to the project, Russia increasingly targets vulnerable populations from Asia, Africa and Latin America, including labor migrants, unemployed people and students.
“Russia cannot sustain its war in Ukraine through voluntary domestic recruitment alone,” the project states.
“So it has turned to the world’s most vulnerable populations.”
According to the platform, Russian recruiters use fake job advertisements, fraudulent educational programs and local intermediaries to attract recruits before sending them to the front with minimal training.
The project claims more than 28,000 foreign nationals have signed contracts with the Russian military through the “Hochu Zhit” (“I Want to Live”) initiative.
At least 5,149 of them were confirmed killed, while thousands more remain missing, according to the website.
“Hundreds of foreign nationals from 48 countries are currently held as prisoners of war in Ukraine,” according to thw the statement.
“Hochu Zhit” is a Ukrainian state project launched in 2022 by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War with support from Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence and other agencies. The initiative was originally created as a hotline and information platform allowing Russian soldiers to voluntarily surrender to Ukrainian forces. Over time, the project expanded to document foreign nationals fighting for Russia, publish data about recruitment schemes and provide information to families searching for missing or captured recruits.
Ukraine says Russia plans to recruit thousands more foreigners
According to the StopRussianRecruiters, Russia’s recruitment target for 2026 is 18,500 additional foreign nationals.
The website includes data on recruitment schemes operating across dozens of countries, profiles of captured recruits and information for families searching for missing relatives.
“This is not a side effect of the war. It is a policy,” the project states.
“No one should die in Ukraine because they answered a job advertisement.”
The Coordination Headquarters said the project aims to warn potential recruits, draw international attention to the issue and help hold recruiters accountable.
Questions emerge over North Korean figures
The website initially included information suggesting between 50 and 100 North Korean nationals had signed contracts with the Russian military.
However, Ukrainian officials previously stated that up to 15,000 North Korean troops were deployed to Russia as part of a separate allied military contingent rather than as contract soldiers.
After Kyiv Post requested clarification, representatives of the project said more than 14,000 North Korean troops had indeed been sent to Russia, but they were participating as an allied force and had not signed contracts with the Russian military.
“Why and under what circumstances some representatives of North Korea may have signed contracts is unknown to us,” the project told Kyiv Post.
The platform added that because the information “creates certain contradictions,” the figure regarding North Korean contract soldiers would be removed from the website.