‘We’ll write off your debt if you go fight’ How Russia is forcing thousands of people from Central Asia to fight in Ukraine
Russia is increasingly turning to Central Asians to replenish its depleted forces in Ukraine. Millions of labor migrants from former Soviet republics live and work in Russia, and Russian authorities are using a mix of tactics — from promises of rewards to torture and threats — to pressure them into joining the war, according to reporting by RFE/RL’s Current Time and Ukrainian services. Meduza shares a summary of their findings.
After completing his mandatory military service in Kazakhstan in the fall of 2023, Kirill Nysanbayev left for Russia in search of work. His hometown of Rudny lies less than 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Russian border, and many residents regularly cross over to find jobs.
Months later, Kirill finally called his family from a migrant detention center in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, where he’d been working in a factory.
“He said he’d been arrested on robbery charges. He told me Russian officers at the detention center beat him and forced him to sign a contract [to fight in Ukraine],” his twin sister, Kamilla, told RFE/RL. According to her, Kirill said detainees were tortured and threatened until they agreed to enlist in the Russian army and be be sent to the front.
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In March 2025, Kirill was killed in combat in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. His family only learned of his death three months later, in June. They were forced to bury him in Russia, as Kazakhstani authorities had already opened a criminal case against him on charges of mercenary activity.
“The police in Rudny told us that if we brought the body home, the whole family would be investigated, and it would drag on for at least a year,” Kamilla said. “They told us, ‘It’s better to bury him in Russia and send us photographic proof so we know you didn’t bring the body into Kazakhstan.’”
Kazakhstan, along with other Central Asian governments, has repeatedly warned citizens not to take part in Russia’s war in Ukraine, cautioning that anyone who returns home after fighting risks prosecution.
‘I tell them: don’t go’
The exact number of Central Asians who have joined the Russian army in Ukraine is unknown. A Ukrainian government program called “I Want to Live,” which offers Russian soldiers a way to safely surrender, estimates the figure in the thousands, though RFE/RL was not able to independently verify the names or numbers it has published.
The project regularly releases what it calls a list of foreign mercenaries. According to “I Want to Live,” it obtained lists containing the names of more than 2,000 Uzbek citizens and over 930 Tajik citizens who were fighting alongside Russian forces at the start of 2025. In July, the project reported that in just the first six months of the year, 529 Kazakhstani citizens and 327 Kyrgyz citizens signed contracts with Russia’s Defense Ministry.
Recruitment of Kyrgyz nationals, in particular, appears to have spiked. The project’s data suggests that in 2023 and 2024 combined, only about 360 Kyrgyz citizens had signed contracts. In April, Kyrgyz authorities announced they had arrested four people — including an employee of a Russian government agency — on suspicion of recruiting Kyrgyz citizens to serve in the Russian army.
Since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, there have been widespread reports and allegations that Russian authorities have targeted labor migrants from Central Asia to coerce them into military service.
Russian police have stepped up raids on migrants at workplaces, in dormitories, and even in mosques. Witnesses, activists, and relatives say officers detain undocumented migrants or those whose residence or work permits have expired, threatening them with arrest or deportation.
Yusuf, a labor migrant from Uzbekistan, told RFE/RL he was caught in one such raid in Moscow in April. “I told them I was a citizen of Uzbekistan and not obligated to serve in the Russian army. Then they checked my documents and saw I had a loan from a Russian bank. They said, ‘We’ll write off your debt if you go fight,’” Yusuf recalled.
“They hit me twice with batons… They grabbed me by the neck and shoved me against the wall,” he added.
Yusuf said he was eventually released after he told the officers he would file a complaint with the Uzbek Embassy.
Kamilla, who lost her twin brother in the war, said she warns others not to take the same risk. “I don’t think people should go to Russia. Many go of their own will and then complain about what happened to them. I tell them: don’t go to Russia.”
