Russia is threatening migrants and foreign students with deportation if they do not agree to go to war against Ukraine, reports Bloomberg.
According to officials familiar with the situation, using a tactic first employed by Wagner group, Russian officials have increasingly begun threatening not to renew visas for African students and young workers unless they agree to join the army.
Moscow is also recruiting convicts from its prisons, as some Africans with work visas in Russia have been detained and forced to decide between deportation or fighting.
One anonymous official told the media that Russia's practice of sending migrants and students into combat under pressure dates back to the beginning of the war. These troops are suffering particularly high casualty rates as they are increasingly deployed in risky offensive maneuvers to protect more trained units.
Russia is recruiting foreigners for the war in Ukraine
Africans are not the first foreigners used by the Kremlin to conduct military operations in Ukraine.
Russians tried to recruit Serbs and Ukrainians living in the occupied territories.
Before that, the National Resistance Center reported that Russia had recruited tens of thousands of mercenaries from Africa and Asia for the war in Ukraine. Russians were also bringing mercenaries from Cuba and Nepal to the occupied territory.
However, mercenaries from Nepal began to desert the Russian army.