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Sam Beltran

A report that eight Indonesians were allegedly tricked into fighting for Moscow in its war on Ukraine may be just the tip of the iceberg, analysts warn, cautioning that Southeast Asia’s existing scam networks could already be a hunting ground for Russian fraudsters.
Ukraine’s intelligence agency revealed on August 27 that the Indonesians had been lured with promises of well-paid civilian jobs. Jakarta has confirmed it is aware of the case.
The agency said Indonesia had become the “latest example” of countries whose nationals were being tricked into filling the ranks of Russia’s depleted forces. “The scheme Moscow uses to seek foreign cannon fodder has already been tested in dozens of other countries,” it warned.
The disclosure follows earlier reports that Moscow had lured Filipinos into combat roles. The Philippine military said in August it was still verifying reports that a Filipino fighting for Russia had been killed in action.
The Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration said that same month that it had rescued 18 Filipinos from what it described as “fake job offers”, though it did not specify whether these were related to deceptive recruitment into the Russian military.
In January, a Filipino identified only as “John Patrick” was named by Ukraine’s intelligence services as among those killed in the occupied Donetsk region. Manila said at the time that it was seeking to confirm the Ukrainian statement.
This Week in Asia has contacted the bureau for comment.

Learning from scam centres
The Indonesian cases suggest Russian recruiters have taken a page out of Southeast Asian scam networks’ playbook, according to analysts, with economic desperation driving victims to respond to fake job adverts on social media.
“My take is Russia preys on the types of men people would easily miss,” said security researcher Munira Mustaffa, executive director of Chasseur Group and a senior fellow at Verve Research.
Mustaffa said the pattern suggested many of those recruited from Southeast Asia had travelled to Russia believing they were taking up non-military work, unlike foreigners who signed up for the war voluntarily.
Russian officials have denied recruiting foreign nationals under false pretences, dismissing the reports as “dangerous and misleading” propaganda.
Jovana Jezdimirovic Ranito, a member of the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries and a professor at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, said fraudulent recruitment tactics had evolved in recent years.
“While previously recruitment was based on glorifying war, it is now more common to see deceptive job posts or scholarship opportunities to attract individuals to fight in foreign conflicts,” she said.
Victims often had their passports confiscated and were saddled with heavy debts owed to their recruiters, Ranito added.
“This has similarities with scam networks observed in Southeast Asia. Many components are comparable, including deception, elements of human trafficking such as coercion and the removal of documents from victims, and violence.”

Oksana Pokalchuk, executive director of Ukraine-based human rights group Truth Hounds, said South Asia had previously been the main recruiting ground, but sources had since diversified – citing information from Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
The Ukrainian agency had counted at least 44 recruits from Southeast Asian countries – including Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Myanmar – as of January, with the true number “definitely bigger” today.
Truth Hounds has interviewed foreign fighters who described being misled by brokers in their home countries, only to be told upon arrival that they had effectively been sold to the Russian military.
“The most important similarity is the architecture of recruitment itself,” Pokalchuk said. “A person is offered legitimate, usually well-paid employment abroad; their economic vulnerability is exploited; travel, visas or tickets may be arranged or facilitated; and after arrival, the actual conditions are radically different from what was promised.”
She said job offers were circulated through social media, recruitment agencies, brokers and personal networks.
Monthly salaries for foreign fighters ranged from around 180,000 to 320,600 roubles (US$2,136 to US$3,805), with one-off signing bonuses of between 200,000 and 1.9 million roubles, Pokalchuk said – sums that might have drawn victims in before they understood the nature of the “work” on offer.
In addition to confiscating passports, recruiters take away foreign fighters’ mobile phones, cutting them off from their families. Beatings and imprisonment for perceived disobedience have also been reported.

Call for state intervention
After minimal training, recruits were dispatched straight to the front line, Pokalchuk said.
“Twenty-eight people we interviewed had participated in assaults on Ukrainian positions – operations often referred to as ‘meat assaults’, with drones attacking them very intensely and dead bodies lying all around,” she said.
“John Patrick” reportedly received just a week of basic training before being sent to the battlefield, where he was repeatedly used to draw fire from Ukrainian forces.
While some foreigners joined the Russian military voluntarily, Pokalchuk said many others were deceived and typically escaped only by surrendering to or being captured by Ukrainian forces.
Analysts say brokers working with Moscow play a central role in funnelling unwitting victims into the war, and are urging governments worldwide to do more to stem the flow.
“In some cases, brokers routed men through Saudi Arabia and the UAE using religious or tourist visas and other established migration channels, with Russia ultimately becoming the destination and the Russian military the actual employer,” Pokalchuk said.
She praised the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing home hundreds of Indian victims and securing their release from the war, and said other affected states should follow suit.
Ranito, meanwhile, urged governments to ramp up public education campaigns warning citizens of the dangers posed by illegal recruitment networks.
“States have a responsibility to identify these networks and to make explicit in their regulatory framework provisions that criminalise recruitment networks and enable them to be held accountable in court,” she said.


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Ukraine war

Firefighters work at the site of a supermarket hit by a Russian air strike in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, in July. Photo: Reuters

A damaged residential building following a Russian missile and drone attack in Kyiv on Tuesday. Photo: AP

A drone parade held on Ukraine’s Independence Day in Kyiv last month amid Russia’s invasion. Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters

A picture printout shows Indian national Mohammed Asfan, who was deployed to the conflict in Ukraine, wearing a Russian military uniform. Photo: AFP

A heavily damaged apartment building following a recent drone attack in the town of Gorlivka in Russian-controlled Donetsk in June. Photo: AFP 

Indonesia investigates reports of 8 citizens fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine

A Ukrainian rescuer works to extinguish a fire at the site of an air attack at an undisclosed location in the Dnipro region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Wednesday. Photo: Ukrainian Emergency Service / AFP

Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Indonesia’s coordinating minister for law, human rights, immigration and corrections. Photo: AFP

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Philippine soldiers load ammunition into an Israeli-made howitzer during a live-fire exercise in Capas town, Tarlac province, in 2024. Photo: AFP 

Philippine Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro (centre) speaks with Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi (left) during the Balikatan drill in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, in May. Photo: AFP

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An Indian Army soldier inspects a new AK-203 Sher rifle. Photo: Handout

A boy holds an INSAS assault rifle during a programme organised by Assam Rifles in Agartala, India, on October 27, 2016. Photo: Reuters

Indian Army soldiers show off the latest weapons in Kargil, Ladakh, on July 26, 2025. Photo: Getty Images

The AK-203 is designed as an advanced version of Russia’s powerful Kalashnikov. Photo: Indian Ministry of Defence

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A group of Indonesians was duped into fighting for Russia, Ukraine says, with other ruses involving Filipinos and Indians


A group of Indonesians was duped into fighting for Russia, Ukraine says, with other ruses involving Filipinos and Indians.


‘Cannon fodder’ Asians tricked to fight for Russia spur calls for intervention

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A group of Indonesians was duped into fighting for Russia, Ukraine says, with other ruses involving Filipinos and Indians

A group of Indonesians was duped into fighting for Russia, Ukraine says, with other ruses involving Filipinos and Indians