Russia's shadow fighters

Russia is persistently recruiting fighters from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cuba, Cameroon and other countries in the Global South through economic incentives and disinformation campaigns to fill its ranks in the armed forces. This presents a
continuing challenge to European security. In pro-Kremlin online influence campaigns, foreign recruits are often portrayed as ideologically motivated
fighters supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine. Posts showing African fighters receiving Russian citizenship – after ‘falling in love with its [Russia’s] culture and
traditions’1 and volunteering to fight – are widely shared on pro-government and affiliated social media channels. These idealised images of war, however, mask the harsh reality: many recruits are misled, subjected to coercion and endure trafficking-like conditions on the frontline.