A labour broker reportedly convinced Maksudur Rahman to leave the warm climate of his Bangladeshi hometown and journey thousands of kilometres to icy Russia with the promise of janitorial work. Instead, within a matter of weeks, he was thrust onto the battlefield amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
An Associated Press (AP) investigation found that Bangladeshi workers were lured to Russia under the false promise of civilian work, only to be thrust into the chaos of combat in Ukraine. Many were allegedly threatened with violence, imprisonment or death.
AP spoke with three Bangladeshi men who escaped from the Russian military, including Rahman, who said that after arriving in Moscow, he and a group of fellow Bangladeshi workers were told to sign Russian documents that turned out to be military contracts.
They were taken to an army camp for training in drone warfare techniques, medical evacuation procedures and basic combat skills using heavy weapons. Maksud protested, complaining that this was not the work he agreed to do.
A Russian commander offered a stark reply through a translation app: “Your agent sent you here. We bought you.”
Three Bangladeshi men described traumatic experiences of being forced into combat roles against their will, saying they were made to move ahead of Russian troops, carry supplies, evacuate injured soldiers and retrieve bodies from the battlefield. Families of three other Bangladeshi men who remain missing said their relatives had conveyed similar experiences before losing contact.
Neither the Russian Defense Ministry, the Russian Foreign Ministry nor the South Asian country’s government responded to a list of questions from AP.
According to officials and rights activists, Russia has also recruited men from other African and South Asian nations, including India and Nepal.
