The Ukrainian project “I Want to Live” has identified over 20,400 citizens of Central Asian countries who signed contracts with the Russian Armed Forces to participate in the war against Ukraine as of 1 October 2026. The figures were presented at a briefing attended by regional media on 20 October. Gazeta presents the key figures from the presentation and comments from a project representative.
Of the total number, 8,207, or 40%, were citizens of Uzbekistan. The next largest groups were citizens of Tajikistan (5,308 persons, 26%), Kazakhstan (3,819, 19%), Kyrgyzstan (2,219, 11%) and Turkmenistan (884, 4%).
Citizens of Central Asian countries account for 44% of all foreign nationals identified by the project as serving in the Russian army under contract.
A project representative noted at the briefing that the statistics do not include ethnic Central Asians who hold Russian citizenship. According to the representative, including them would bring the total even higher.
The number of citizens of Central Asian countries who signed contracts with the Russian Armed Forces increased 2.1-fold in 2025, from 4,119 people (including 1,446 from Uzbekistan) in 2024 to 8,497 (including 3,487 from Uzbekistan) in 2025. A further 6,043 people (including 2,602 from Uzbekistan) signed contracts in the first nine months of 2026, equivalent to 71% of the 2025 figure.
“Recruiting residents of neighbouring countries is particularly convenient due to linguistic, cultural and migration ties,” the project said.
Foreign prisoners of war
According to “I Want to Live”, as of 12 October 2026, hundreds of foreign nationals who fought in the Russian Armed Forces were being held in Ukrainian captivity. They are citizens of 59 countries. According to the project representative, their number is increasing every year.
According to the project’s presentation, the seven most represented nationalities among foreign prisoners of war were citizens of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Belarus, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan, in the order in which the countries appear in the presentation.
The project did not specify the number of prisoners from each country.
Recruitment methods
The “I Want to Live” project identifies three main methods of recruiting foreign nationals into the Russian Armed Forces: financial inducements, deception and coercion.
According to the presentation, recruiters promise relatively high salaries of $2,000−3,000 per month, Russian citizenship and benefits in exchange for participating in combat operations. The project notes that many foreign nationals knowingly agree to join the Russian Armed Forces in the hope of earning money.
Deception involves offering “high-paying jobs” in construction, security, warehouses or driving. Advertisements may state that the work is “in the interests of the Ministry of Defense” without mentioning participation in combat operations. After signing a contract, recruits are sent for a short training course at a military training facility and then deployed to the front. According to the project, this method is most commonly used to recruit citizens of Sri Lanka, Cuba, Nepal and African countries.
Coercion involves raids during which police detain undocumented migrants and people whose documents have expired. They are threatened with imprisonment or deportation and offered an “alternative”: signing a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry in exchange for money and citizenship. The project notes that this is a common scenario for people from Central Asia.
Reasons for signing contracts with the Russian Armed Forces
According to a representative of “I Want to Live”, more than 90% of foreign prisoners of war completed a survey that included questions about their reasons for signing contracts with the Russian Armed Forces and their hopes for the future.
The survey results were grouped by region: Central Asia, the Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Belarus, Moldova and Georgia), Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Asia. The presentation and briefing did not specify the number of respondents. Respondents could select multiple answers, and the percentages are calculated as a share of all responses in each group.
According to the results, the main motivation among prisoners of war from Central Asia was the desire to obtain Russian citizenship, accounting for 32% of responses. Another 20% cited a desire to get out of prison or avoid criminal prosecution, the highest proportion among all the regional groups. The desire to earn money accounted for 10% of responses, while 6% cited a desire to avoid deportation from Russia.
In 12% of responses, respondents said they had signed contracts voluntarily in support of Russia’s actions. According to a representative of “I Want to Live”, ethnic Russians who had lived in Central Asian countries before the war also cited this reason in personal interviews.
The overwhelming majority of responses from prisoners of war from Central Asia regarding their future plans indicated “Return to Russia”, accounting for 82% of answers. Returning to their home country was mentioned in 11% of responses.
The project representative said that, in conversations with “I Want to Live”, prisoners from Central Asia stated that they considered themselves Russian citizens, even if they had obtained their passports only after signing contracts. They also feared returning home, saying that mercenary activity is a criminal offense in countries across the region. The prisoners also said they wanted to receive financial compensation for participating in combat operations.