Ekaterina Girnyk09:08, 24.11.24

Yemeni men are promised jobs with high salaries and even Russian citizenship, but upon arrival in the country they are forcibly sent to the front.

Russia has so far recruited hundreds of Yemeni men under false pretenses to fight in Ukraine through a company linked to the Houthi rebel group. Yemeni recruits who travelled to Russia told the Financial Times that they were promised high-paying jobs and even Russian citizenship. But when they arrived in the country, they were forcibly conscripted into the Russian army and sent to the frontline in Ukraine.

“The emergence of a ragtag group of Yemeni mercenaries in Ukraine – mostly unwilling – shows how the conflict is increasingly drawing in soldiers from abroad as casualties mount and the Kremlin tries to avoid full mobilisation… The Yemeni recruitment drive also highlights how Russia is moving ever closer to Iran and its allied militant groups in the Middle East,” the FT writes.

Yemeni mercenaries – what is known

Contracts signed by the Yemenis, seen by the FT, name a company founded by Abdulwali Abdo Hassan al-Jabri, a prominent Houthi politician, although registration documents list the company as a tour operator and retailer of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals.

At the same time, as the FT notes, the recruitment of Yemeni soldiers apparently began back in July. Thus, one of the recruitment contracts was dated July 3 and signed by the head of the center for selecting contract soldiers in Nizhny Novgorod.

One of the recruits, Nabil, told the FT he was among a group of about 200 Yemenis conscripted into the Russian army in September after arriving in Moscow.

He said that while some were experienced fighters, many had no military training and were tricked into coming to Russia and signing contracts they could not even read.

Nabil said he was lured with promises of lucrative jobs in fields such as “security” and “engineering,” and agreed in the hope of earning enough to complete his studies. Instead, within weeks, he found himself on the front lines in Ukraine with four other Yemenis, wearing military uniforms with Russian insignia.

“We are being bombed. Mines, drones, digging bunkers… We don’t even have five minutes to rest, we are so tired,” one of the men said in a video seen by the FT, adding that one of their comrades had attempted suicide and was taken to hospital.

Yemenis also complained about the lack of winter clothing.

Another Yemeni, Abdullah, said he was promised a $10,000 bonus and $2,000 a month, as well as Russian citizenship, for working in Russia to produce drones.

However, upon arrival in Moscow on September 18, his group was forcibly taken from the airport to a facility five hours outside of Moscow, “where a man speaking simple Arabic fired a gun over their heads when they refused to sign a work contract that was written in Russian.”

The recruits were then put on buses to Ukraine, given basic military training, and sent to a military base near Rostov, not far from the Ukrainian border.

Russia Uses North Korean Military in War in Ukraine

According to South Korean intelligence, there are currently about 10,900 North Korean troops in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation . These forces have been deployed as part of a Russian airborne unit and a marine unit.

At the same time, according to the US Department of Defense, North Korean military personnel have not yet taken part in combat operations.

(C)UNIAN 2024