Ukraine's External Intelligence Service (HUR) stated that the Russian side has built a mechanism for systematically attracting foreign nationals into its armed forces to take part in the war against Ukraine. According to Ukrainian intelligence, at least 27 Yemeni citizens are already planned to be used in combat operations, and Russian military structures are allegedly involved in processing their paperwork. Intelligence emphasizes that this indicates not isolated cases, but an organized pattern of recruiting foreigners.
The scheme: from legalization to contract
According to HUR, the process looks like a sequential chain: first, a foreigner is helped to legally settle in Russia under a simplified procedure, and is then enrolled into contract military service. The specific episode cited by Ukrainian intelligence dates to July 2026: the head of the contract military service recruitment point in Khanty-Mansiysk, Lieutenant K. Pervushin, contacted the FSB Border Service with a request to legalize the stay of certain Yemeni citizens. As HUR claims, once the required status was obtained, contracts for military service were to be signed with these individuals. Thus, according to intelligence assessments, both the FSB Border Service and the relevant military commissariats participate in the scheme.
Legal basis: Decree No. 821
The legal basis for such legalization, according to HUR, was Decree No. 821 of Russian President Vladimir Putin, dated 5 November 2025, which introduced a temporary procedure for granting Russian citizenship and issuing residence permits. Formally, the document concerns migration procedures. At the same time, Ukrainian intelligence claims that in practice this mechanism is used as a tool for further recruiting foreigners into the Russian army, turning a migration norm into an element of a recruitment scheme.
Among the recruits are young men
Particular attention in HUR's statement is given to the age of the identified Yemeni citizens: among them, according to intelligence, are individuals born in 2006 and 2007. HUR commented that these are "very young people whom the Kremlin is ready to throw into the war for money and the promise of legal status in Russia."
The scale of foreign recruitment
The context provided by the Ukrainian side points to the broad nature of the recruitment. In August 2026, the Parliamentary Ombudsman for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada, Dmytro Lubinets, stated that citizens of 51 countries who fought on the side of the Russian army are held in Ukrainian captivity, which, in his words, testifies to the scale of foreign recruitment. In addition, HUR reported that Russia has recruited into its armed forces, for participation in the war against Ukraine, at least eight Indonesian citizens.
