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Three men from the Dominican Republic are begging to be rescued from Russia, where they claimed they were lured by false promises of jobs — and then sent to the battlefield in the war with Ukraine.
In a video posted on social media last week, the three unnamed men alleged they were conscripted in the Russian military and sent to the front lines of the four-year-old war.
“We were deceived, contrary to what is being said, that we came here knowing what we were getting into,” one of the soldiers said. “That’s a lie. We were brought here under an employment contract – to work.”
Dominican nationals are required by law to seek permission from the government if they wish to join another country’s armed forces and could lose their citizenship if they do so without approval.
The Dominican men did not reveal when they first arrived or how long they have been in Russia; what, if any, training they had received; how they were recruited, or how much they were paid. They also didn’t share what jobs they thought they would be doing in Russia.
One of the soldiers described the grim reality of life on the battlefield, alleging the Russians have treated them as “slaves” as they face drone attacks by Ukrainian forces.
“When those people send us to the front, there are drones that show no mercy to anyone,” he said. “When one of them crashes into you – boom! It blows you to bits, shredding you into tiny, bite-sized pieces.”
The Dominican men claimed that on average, only two out every 100 soldiers survive their missions.
One of the soldiers said in the video that fighters from Perú, Panamá and India already were pulled out from Russia and repatriated to their home countries.
Panama’s Foreign Relations Ministry was able to arrange the return of 17 Panamanians, including 11 who fought on the Russian side, while Peru has managed the return of 50 of it citizens, including four young men who escaped a Russian training center. The Indian government has ensured the release of 139 nationals who went to Russia to join the army.
The soldier in the video urged Dominican President Luis Abinader to do the same.
“The only ones who don’t have the benefit of people having mercy on us are us – the Dominicans,” he said.
Dominican Republic Foreign Relations Minister Víctor Ito Bisonó said Thursday he met with Alexey Seredin, Russia’s ambassador in the Dominican Republic, and revealed that 30 Dominicans had signed contracts to join the war.
“We have instructed our ambassador in Russia to retain Russian legal counsel so that – within the framework of the laws under which the individual contracts were signed – we can explore potential options for follow-up and possible solutions,” Bisonó said.
Carlos de Pérez, a representative for the eastern resort town of La Romana, said on Sept. 17 that at least 13 young men in the area were contacted via social media with “false job offers,” such as cooks, welders or mechanics in Russia.
“They are already in the hands of Russian personnel; they are being prepared, undergoing examinations, and will be sent to the battlefront,” he said at the time.