Russia recruits cannon fodder from Yemen: Ukraine's intel reveals Kremlin scheme
Photo: Yemeni soldiers (Getty Images)
Russia is recruiting foreigners into its army through simplified legalization. Among the potential cannon fodder are Yemeni citizens, reports the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.
The Russian side is already planning to use at least 27 Yemeni citizens in the war against Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russian military structures are directly involved in processing these people, indicating that the recruitment of foreigners in Russia is not isolated but organized in nature.
How the scheme works
In July 2026, lieutenant K. Pervushin, head of the contract military service recruitment center in Khanty-Mansiysk, contacted the Russian FSB border service.
In his appeal, he asked to legalize the stay of certain Yemeni citizens on the territory of Russia. According to the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, after obtaining the necessary status, these people were planned to sign military service contracts.
The legal basis for the legalization was Vladimir Putin’s Decree No. 821 of November 5, 2025. The document introduced a temporary procedure for admission to Russian citizenship and the issuance of residence permits.
Formally, the decree concerns migration procedures. But in practice, this mechanism is used to subsequently recruit foreigners into the Russian army.
The scheme works as follows: first, the foreigner is helped to legalize their status in Russia through a simplified procedure, after which they are enlisted for contract military service.
According to the assessment of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, Russia has built a mechanism for the systematic recruitment of foreign citizens into its army. The FSB border service and specialized military enlistment offices are involved in it.
Among the Yemeni citizens identified by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine are people born in 2006 and 2007.
“Among the citizens of Yemen identified by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, there are individuals born in 2006 and 2007 – that is, very young people whom the kremlin is willing to send to war in exchange for money and the promise of legal status in russia,” the intelligence concluded.
In August 2026, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said that citizens of 51 countries who had fought on the side of the Russian army are being held in Ukrainian captivity. According to him, this demonstrates the scale of the recruitment of foreigners for the war against Ukraine.
The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine also reported that Russia had recruited at least eight Indonesian citizens into its armed forces to participate in the war against Ukraine.
