Russia plans to recruit record-breaking 18,500 foreigners into army in 2026 - Defense Intelligence

In 2026, russia plans to recruit a record-breaking 18,500 foreigners into the army. This was announced by the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense on the Telegram channel, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"The russian occupation army includes more than 10,000 recruits from Central Asia, about 1,800 from South Asia, from 1,700 from Africa and, according to various estimates, from 1,000 from Latin America, as well as about 14,000 from the DPRK," said Dmytro Usov, secretary of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

According to him, this year russia plans to recruit a record 18,500 foreigners - this is an important resource for the aggressor state against the backdrop of massive losses of its own population in the war against Ukraine.

Usov noted that the recruitment of foreign citizens into the russian occupation army around the world strengthens transnational human trafficking networks, and therefore poses a challenge to global security.

According to him, the losses of foreign mercenaries of the russian army in the "meat assaults" in the war against Ukraine, according to available data, are at least 5,149 people.

"Some were lucky - they fell into Ukrainian captivity. Today, the Coordination Headquarters is taking care of mercenaries from 48 countries: among the "top" - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus," Usov noted.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in November 2025, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported that russia had involved more than 18,000 foreigners from 128 countries of the world and unrecognized territories in the war against Ukraine, at least 3,388 of them were killed.