Ukraine holds over 100 foreign nationals from 32 countries as POWs

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners said this in response to a request from Slidstvo.Info.

Uzbekistan is currently in first place, Tajikistan in second. Also among the leaders by number are Nepal, Belarus, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, and Yemen.

The number of such prisoners is growing every year. The Coordination Headquarters explains this by noting that more foreigners have begun signing contracts with the Russian army, and therefore more people are being captured. 

As of June 2025, 6,162 foreigners without Russian citizenship had signed contracts with the Russian Armed Forces, compared to 6,011 for all of 2024.

According to the Coordination Headquarters’ statistics on foreign citizens, in July the share of foreigners (excluding Russians) among all prisoners reached 49%. 

For comparison, the figure for the entire last year was 42%, in 2023 it was 9%, and in 2022 it was 1%.

In addition, based on sources within the Russian Armed Forces, the I Want to Live project received name-by-name lists of 16,894 foreign citizens from 121 countries and unrecognized territories worldwide who fought or continue to fight against Ukraine as part of the Russian army.

This concerns 4,658 citizens of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan; 1,013 citizens of African states; and another 9,961 citizens of other countries and territories. It is currently known that at least 678 people from this list have been killed.

• Ukraine and Russia carried out another prisoner exchange, as a result of which 84 people—both military personnel and civilians—returned home on August 13.