Ukraine-Russia war: UK sanctions networks suspected of trafficking migrants to fight for Kremlin
Britain has imposed a new set of sanctions targeting Russian networks accused of smuggling vulnerable people from Africa and the Middle East to serve on the front line in Ukraine.
The 35 new measures announced on Tuesday aim to crack down on operations that reportedly trick people in countries such as Nigeria, Syria and Yemen with promises of a better life and send them straight into battlefields.
Foreign Secretary Stephen Doughty condemned the practice as “barbaric”, accusing Russia of “exploiting defenseless people” and using them as “cannon fodder”.
These sanctions follow a report from the International Federation for Human Rights last week that found Russia had recruited at least 27,000 foreign fighters since 2022.
The report details a “global recruitment system that deliberately targets the most vulnerable populations” that lures individuals to Europe, often with the promise of well-paying civilian jobs.
The report estimated that a fifth of these soldiers did not survive their first four months of deployment, often suffering from inadequate training and mistreatment by their commanders.
Those specifically sanctioned on Tuesday include Polina Azarnykh, a former teacher who allegedly recruited individuals from Africa and the Middle East, and Elena Smirnova, who, along with Cuban citizen Dayana Echemendia Diaz, is accused of using deception to recruit Cubans.
Two men of Syrian and Iraqi nationality, Sergei Merzlyakov and Abid Kalid Sharif Abid, are said to have helped traffic people from the Middle East and Bangladesh, both to fight in Ukraine and to “destabilize” Finland and Poland.
Various companies and individuals were also sanctioned for hiring Indian citizens through student visas or job offers in Russia’s security sector.
These include Indian nationals Faisal Khan, Deepak Pandey, Manjeet Singh, Rakesh Pandey and Mohammad Daragur, as well as companies Baba Vlogs Overseas Recruitment Solutions, OSD Bros Travels and Visa Services and Adventure Visa Services.
In addition to trafficking people to fight on the front lines, Russia has also recruited people from Africa and Asia to work in drone factories through a scheme called the Alabuga Startup Program.
The program, which was also the target of Tuesday’s sanctions, recruits people from “economically insecure backgrounds” to work at arms factories in Tatarstan, about 500 miles east of Moscow.
Among those sanctioned for their role in the Alabuga Start Program are Cameroonian citizen Michel Ateba and his company Enangue Holding.
Sanctions were also imposed on other companies involved in Russia’s drone industry, including Pavel Nikitin, who produces the VT-40 attack drone widely used by Moscow, as well as Chinese company M9 Logistics and Thai businesses Canopus Trading, Tanaq and Sea 2 Sky.
