Russia has allegedly increased Troop Numbers in Kharkiv Oblast, Pressuring Migrants and Foreign Students, Potentially Including Nigerians, to Fight in Ukraine.
This was disclosed in Bloomberg report on June 9, stating that Russian officials have threatened African students not to extend their Visas unless “they agree to join the military.”
According to the report Such a tactic was first deployed by the Russian Wagner mercenary group.
While Russia has also been enlisting convicts, some Africans on work visas “have been detained and forced to decide between deportation or fighting,” Bloomberg cited an anonymous European official.
“Some of those people had been able to bribe officials to stay in the country and still avoid military service,” the report reads.
This is not the first time the Russian military is reported to have started bringing prisoners, migrants, and foreign nationals into its ranks.
Last September, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported that Russia was stepping up its campaign to recruit foreigners in neighboring countries and exploited migrant workers for its war against Ukraine.
