Russia forcibly sends migrants to fight in Ukraine

The Russian Investigative Committee is expanding its raids on construction sites and markets in an effort to detain migrants who have received Russian citizenship and forcibly send them to fight in the war in Ukraine.

"The longer I observe how this process unfolds, the more I see the animalistic zeal with which Russian security forces carry out these raids," Ukrainian military expert Oleksandr Kovalenko writes on his Telegram channel. 

Since the beginning of 2025, about 100,000 migrants have been detained in Russia, of which around 30,000 were forcibly sent to the combat zone in Ukraine.

"I’m confident that soon the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Alexandr Bastrykin, will once again boast about the results of capturing migrants since the start of the year and sending them to the war zone in Ukraine," Kovalenko adds.

Russian authorities are trying to solve the problem of a shortage of mobilization resources by doing this, to compensate for losses in the Russian army. The current number of volunteers does not meet the need to replace monthly losses of 30,000–35,000 troops.

As a result, in the first half of 2025, migrants made up more than 15% of the mobilization pool.

The hunt for migrants who have received Russian passports—and who are the least protected under Russian law—continues to grow as combat in Ukraine intensifies and Russia’s summer offensive campaign fails.

"Today, Russia is the worst possible option for those seeking work or citizenship. It now carries the risk of being forcibly sent to the war in Ukraine and never returning," the expert concludes.