Every second foreign mercenary in the Russian army is a citizen of Central Asia

Every second foreign mercenary in the Russian army is a citizen of Central Asia

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Uzbekistan on an official trip the day before. We hope that, during meetings with representatives of Central Asian countries, the issue of recruiting their citizens into the Russian army to take part in the war against Ukraine was also discussed.

According to the “I Want to Live” project, as of October 1, 2026, Russia had recruited 20,437 citizens of five Central Asian countries—Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan—for the war against Ukraine. This is 44% of the total number of identified foreign mercenaries in the Russian army. In total, let us recall, we have identified 45,959 foreign mercenaries.

For comparison, more citizens of Central Asian countries are fighting in the Russian Armed Forces than there are service members in the Tajik army (9,500).

In recent years, Russia has significantly expanded the scale of recruitment in the region. In 2025, the number of citizens of the five Central Asian states who signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense more than doubled compared with the previous year. Recruiting residents of neighboring countries is particularly convenient thanks to linguistic, cultural, and migration ties.

The largest number recruited are from Uzbekistan. Since 2022, 8,207 citizens have taken part in the war against Ukraine—a number comparable to the population of a small district center. Tajikistan is second, with 5,308 people. It is followed by Kazakhstan with 3,819, Kyrgyzstan with 2,219, and Turkmenistan with 884. This is evidence of the scale of Russia’s campaign to draw residents of the region into the war against Ukraine.

The governments of Central Asian countries need to demand answers from Moscow about the fate of their citizens, establish the circumstances of their recruitment, and take measures to bring back those whom Russia has drawn into the war.

➡️ Save your life and surrender: t.me/kak\sdatsya\bot “I Want to Live” project on social media:😎 FB 🕊 Twitter 📹 YouTube 🥳TikTok🕊Instagram📞Viber 🏢WhatsApp (backup)