Russia begins recruiting Indonesian citizens for war against Ukraine — Foreign Intelligence Service

Russia is expanding recruitment of foreigners for the war against Ukraine and has begun attracting citizens of Indonesia. The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine has obtained documents on at least eight Indonesian nationals recruited into the Russian army.

The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine reported this on 27 August. According to their data, Indonesia has become another target of the Russian campaign to find servicemen abroad amid the Russian Federation's need to replenish personnel.

Intelligence states that Russia is using the same scheme already tested in other countries. Foreigners are offered high payments, work supposedly far from the combat zone, expedited Russian citizenship, and social guarantees.

However, according to the FIS, recruited foreigners often do not know where and in what conditions they will actually have to serve. After signing contracts, some of them are sent directly to units participating in combat against Ukraine.

Russia has used similar schemes in other countries

Ukrainian intelligence points out that Russia previously recruited citizens of Nepal, Cuba, Kenya, and India through similar schemes. Some foreigners ended up on the front lines after only a short training period, and some of those recruited died.

Cases of attracting citizens from Southeast Asian countries were also recorded earlier. In July, the Ukrainian project Stop Russian Recruiters published data on foreigners from several Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries who, according to the project, signed contracts with the Russian army. The listed countries included Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

In August, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine also reported identifying a Filipino citizen, Jerick Jumadil Undol. According to the GUR, he arrived in Russia in April 2026, signed a one-year contract in early May, underwent about a week of training, and was on the front line by mid-month. At the end of May he was killed in Donetsk Oblast.

Russia plans to attract thousands of foreigners

Recruitment abroad has become a systematic way for Russia to replenish its army without conducting a new large-scale mobilization. According to previously published Ukrainian data, Russian authorities planned to attract about 18.5 thousand foreign citizens in 2026.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War previously reported that Ukraine has identified data on more than 27,000 citizens from 135 countries whom Russia has recruited into its armed forces since the start of the full-scale war.

The FIS links the expansion of foreign recruitment to a decrease in the number of people willing to sign military contracts within Russia itself. At the same time, according to intelligence assessments, foreign servicemen are used by Russian propaganda to create the impression of international support for the war.

"Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country with a population of over 280 million people, has joined the list of countries that for the Kremlin have become another market of cheap human power for war," — stated the Foreign Intelligence Service.

Based on materials from: Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, Stop Russian Recruiters, GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine