recruitment in mosques
British Secret Service: Moscow lures immigrants into the war with money and passports
An army poster with the “Z” symbol of the Russian invasion and the slogan “Victory is forged in fire” hangs in central Moscow.
© Alexander Nemenov / AFP
Russia is luring new recruits for the war of aggression in Ukraine: immigrants from Central Asia are to be rewarded with high pay and faster naturalization – reports the British secret service.
According to British intelligence experts, Moscow is luring immigrants from Central Asia with high pay and fast-track naturalization procedures in its recruitment efforts. Recruiters are on their way to mosques and immigration centers, according to the daily intelligence report on the war in Ukraine from the Ministry of Defense in London. At the immigration authorities, Tajik and Uzbek speaking staff routinely attempted to recruit migrants.
Russian passport for recruited migrants
According to the report, advance bonuses of the equivalent of 2165 euros and a salary of up to 3770 euros per month are offered. In addition, there is the offer to obtain Russian citizenship within six months to a year – normally this would only be possible after five years. According to the British experts, the recruitment attempts are likely to be partially successful. “These recruits will probably be sent to the front sections in Ukraine, where the casualty figures are extremely high,” it said.
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400,000 volunteers for the war
The efforts are part of the Russian Defense Ministry’s goal of recruiting 400,000 volunteers to serve in the war of aggression against Ukraine. “The authorities are almost certainly trying to delay any overt forced mobilization as long as possible in order to minimize domestic dissatisfaction,” the statement said. The Ministry of Defense in London has been publishing daily information on the course of the war since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, citing intelligence information. Moscow accuses London of a disinformation campaign.