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Bangladesh arrests two over network that sent men to fight for Russia
Police say at least 30 people were lured with promises of well-paid jobs, then handed to the Russian army. Twenty Bangladeshis are confirmed dead.
Key points
- Police arrested Mizanur Rahman and Abu Taher over a trafficking network linked to the Russian army.
- The network sent at least 30 people to Russia on promises of jobs.
- About 17 recruits were killed on their first day at the front, police said.
Police in Bangladesh have arrested two men accused of belonging to a trafficking network that lured local men to Russia with promises of well-paid jobs and then handed them to the Russian army to fight in Ukraine.
Mohammad Asaduzzaman, commander of the police’s elite Special Response Battalion, said on Wednesday that the suspects, Mizanur Rahman and Abu Taher, had helped send at least 30 people to Russia. Once there, the men had their passports and phones taken from them and were passed to the military.
The toll has been heavy. About 17 of the recruits, who reached Russia in early May, were killed on their first day of deployment after minimal training, police said. Twenty Bangladeshis have been confirmed dead in all. “Bangladeshis were used as bait to locate enemy positions,” Asaduzzaman said.
A survivor who made it home has said two others are in hospital in Moscow and six are still at the front. The victims were reported to have paid about $8,000 each for jobs that did not exist.
Bangladesh is one of many countries whose citizens have ended up in Russian uniform. An estimated 28,000 foreigners from 136 countries are fighting for Russia, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the UN General Assembly last month that Moscow was recruiting from 47 countries, calling the campaign “absolutely brutal”. Amnesty International accuses Russia of “deceptive, coercive and exploitative practices” in signing up foreigners. Russia has denied coercing anyone into its army.