Two men from Cameroon sit in Ukrainian custody, telling a story that’s becoming disturbingly familiar. They came to Russia for work and tourism and ended up on the front lines.

Metugena Una-na Jean Pafe thought he was getting a job at a shampoo factory. Anatol Frank needed dental work and planned an 18-day trip to Moscow in 2024. Both claim they traveled to Russia for civilian purposes but were forced into military service against their will, according to video by the 20th separate unmanned systems regiment K-2.

“I wanted to leave the airport, but they [Russians] called me,” Pafe told his Ukrainian captors. “They checked my passport and took me to an office.This was all under coercion.”

Frank’s experience followed a similar pattern. Moscow’s migration service took his fingerprints and jaw impressions, then told him what to do. When he refused, they blocked his departure.

Both men ended up signing military contracts worth 1.1 million rubles (over $14,000). Why sign? Ukrainian forces note this amount represents substantial money in Cameroon, even though it’s less than Russia offers its own citizens.

The military training moved them across Russia. Pafe spent two weeks in Moscow, one week in Rostov, then a month in occupied Luhansk. Frank also trained in Rostov before deployment.

How long did their combat service last? Not long.

Pafe’s bunker came under fire almost immediately. Six days after reaching the front, Ukrainian forces captured him. Frank got lost on his first mission, unable to understand orders in Russian. He wandered for three days in the rain, at one point hiding under a bush, before following voices that led to Ukrainian troops.

“While I was walking, there were drones above. It rained for three days,” Frank recounted.

During Frank’s nighttime evacuation, a Russian drone wounded two Ukrainian soldiers and Frank himself.

Both prisoners say they never killed anyone. They acknowledge Russia as the aggressor and want to return to Cameroon, where they have families. One prisoner has two sons waiting at home.

Are they alone? Far from it.

The regiment indicates this represents part of a broader pattern of foreign recruitment, with the prisoners claiming that Chinese, Zimbabwean, and Bangladeshi nationals are also present on the Siversk front, Donetsk Oblast.

Ukrainian forces previously also captured a Yemeni fighter. In early April, they captured Chinese nationals fighting for Russia—the first known case of Chinese military personnel in the war. President Zelenskyy says Ukrainian intelligence counts at least 155 Chinese citizens in Russian ranks.

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Russia also deploys North Korean soldiers, particularly in Kursk Oblast, adding another layer to its international recruitment.

How widespread is this recruitment? An investigation by Important Stories found foreign mercenaries from at least 48 countries fighting for Russia. Moscow recruited over 1,500 foreigners between April 2023 and May 2024 in the capital alone. Most come from South and East Asia, with Nepal providing the largest contingent.

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Besides Nepal, fighters arrive from India and African nations including the Republic of Togo. Such recruitment cases became more frequent at the end of last year.

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Russia is also luring young African women with promises of vocational training and jobs in Europe, then trapping them in drone factories to build weapons for the war in Ukraine. Women from Uganda, Mali, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Sudan arrive at Russia’s Alabuga facility expecting education or legitimate work, but instead face grueling assembly-line shifts building Shahed attack drones under constant surveillance.

They work long hours exposed to harmful chemicals, endure racism and punitive management, while their wages are withheld and communications monitored, with some reports suggesting sexual exploitation as well.

The Russian Ministry of Defense finances this operation through fraudulent recruitment via social media and embassies, effectively turning vulnerable women into forced laborers for Moscow’s war machine. 

His comrades died in their very first battle, and he was taken prisoner. Chinese national Wang Wu, known as Sabre, says he, like many other foreigners, was recruited under false pretenses, promised rear-line duties.

But after a brief training period, they were immediately thrown into frontline combat, including in a suicidal assault near Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast. 

A new report by I Want to Live, the Ukrainian state project, has exposed what happens to foreign recruits in the Russian army after signing contracts with Russia’s Ministry of Defense.

“I truly understand that we were deceived… I believe signing that contract was a shameful decision. I’m certain other Chinese citizens should know they are being lied to,” says the captured soldier.

According to the project’s representatives, most of the new recruits shown in videos from Russia’s 102nd Regiment are now either dead or severely wounded. Among the dead is Wang Wu’s friend, Yan Jingsheng, whose death he witnessed firsthand.

The project has stressed that foreigners in the Russian army are treated as nothing more than cannon fodder.

“If they don’t spare their own, why would they make exceptions for Asians or Africans?” the statement reads.

On 8 April, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that Ukraine captured two Chinese citizens who were fighting alongside Russian troops in the Donetsk Oblast. The operatives obtained their documents, bank cards, and personal data. An investigation and additional measures are ongoing. 

One of them paid $3,482 to join the Russian military through a Chinese intermediary. He explained that his main motivation was to obtain Russian citizenship through military service. He underwent basic training in occupied Luhansk alongside other Chinese citizens, with instruction conducted without formal translation.

Russia wants to “plant a flag” on Ukrainian territory to claim a fake victory. Ukrainian General Oleksandr Syrskyi has called the Pokrovsk front in Donetsk Oblast the hottest spot along the entire 1,200-kilometer front line.

“There are no fewer than fifty combat engagements here every day,” said the commander-in-chief during his visit to the Pokrovsk defenders. 

He stated that the Russian command has deployed a force of 111,000 troops to the area, aiming to break through to the administrative border of Donetsk Oblast. However, their objective is not only tactical but also psychological. 

“To create a psychological effect: to place the infamous ‘Russian soldier’s boot,’ plant a flag, and loudly proclaim yet another fake ‘victory,'” he stated. 

Syrskyi stressed that particularly intense attacks took place two weeks ago, when Russian sabotage-assault groups attempted to breach Ukrainian defenses.

“But they were all destroyed or neutralized, and the remnants were pushed back farther from the administrative border. The situation is under control,” he assured.

During his visit, Syrskyi met with soldiers, held briefings with units of the Armed Forces and the National Guard, and issued important directives to strengthen defenses in the direction Russia seeks to turn into a “symbol of victory.”

Over the past week, Ukraine’s Air Force, missile troops, and artillery struck 99 locations where Russian personnel, weapons, equipment, ammunition depots, command posts, and other key military targets were concentrated.