A recruiter convinced Maksudur Rahman to leave the tropical warmth of his Bangladeshi hometown and travel thousands of miles to cold Russia for a job as a cleaner. Within weeks, he found himself on the front lines of Russia’s war in Ukraine. An Associated Press investigation revealed how Bangladeshi workers were lured to Russia with the false promise of civilian jobs, only to be sent into the chaos of the war in Ukraine. Many were threatened with violence, imprisonment or death.
The AP spoke to three Bangladeshi men who managed to escape the Russian military, including Rahman, who said that upon arriving in Moscow, he and a group of other Bangladeshi workers were forced to sign Russian documents that turned out to be military contracts. They were sent to an army camp for training in drone warfare techniques, medical evacuation procedures and basic combat skills with heavy weapons.
Rahman protested, saying this was not the job he had agreed to do. A Russian commander replied through a translation app: “Your agent brought you here. We bought you.” The three Bangladeshi men shared harrowing accounts of being forced to perform frontline duties against their will, including advancing Russian forces, transporting supplies, evacuating wounded soldiers and collecting dead bodies. The families of three other Bangladeshi men who have gone missing said their relatives had shared similar accounts.
Neither Russia’s Defense Ministry, its Foreign Ministry, nor the Bangladeshi government responded to AP questions about the investigation. Rahman said workers in his group were threatened with 10 years in prison and beaten.
“They would say to us, ‘Why aren’t you working? Why are you crying?’ and kick us,” said Rahman, who escaped and returned home after seven months. The workers’ accounts were supported by documents, including travel documents, Russian military contracts, medical and police reports and photographs. The documents show visas given to the Bangladeshi workers, injuries sustained during the fighting and evidence of their participation in the war. It is not clear how many Bangladeshis were tricked into fighting. The Bangladeshi men told the AP they had seen hundreds of their countrymen alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.
Officials and activists say Russia has also targeted men from other African and South Asian countries, including India and Nepal.