By KYIV. May 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Russian military recruiters have been targeting migrant workers from Central Asian states to serve in Ukraine, according to a defense intelligence report on Twitter by the UK and Northern Ireland Department of Defense on Monday morning.
“Recruiters have visited mosques and immigration offices to recruit. At immigration offices, staff who speak Tajik and Uzbek routinely attempt to recruit migrants… Recruiters offered sign-up bonuses of $2,390 and salaries of up to $4,160 a month. Migrants have also been offered a fast-track Russian citizenship path of six months to one year, instead of the usual five years,” the service said.
These promises are encouraging some migrant workers to register, according to intelligence, but these recruits are likely to be sent to the Ukrainian front lines, where the casualty rate is extremely high.
“Recruiting migrants is part of the Russian Ministry of Defence’s attempts to fulfil its target of 400,000 volunteers to fight in Ukraine. The authorities are almost certainly seeking to delay any new overt mandatory mobilization as long as possible to minimize domestic dissent,” according to the report.
