ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A Kurdish man serving with the Russian military has warned young people not to be \u201cdeceived\u201d by promises of money and citizenship, saying he is unable to return home even though his contract to fight in the war against Ukraine ended three months ago. <\/p>\n
The man, who spoke to Rudaw from Russia on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, said he traveled there in February 2025 after struggling to secure employment in the Kurdistan Region\u2019s military sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came to Russia and became a soldier because of my passion for military service and because I wasn’t being hired in the military sector in the Kurdistan Region,\u201d he said, adding that he had been promised an upfront payment of nearly $12,000 upon signing a military contract.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was told that once I arrived in Russia and signed the contract, I would be given $11,900 as an advance,\u201d he said. Instead, he said he received around $7,100 and a monthly salary of $2,500, but added that the money no longer mattered.<\/p>\n
\u201cI regret it to my very core because we have no control over any orders, and our lives are constantly in danger,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In recent years, dozens of young men from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have joined the Russian military to fight in the war against Ukraine, often after being promised high salaries, residency, or Russian citizenship by recruitment networks and companies, according to Iraqi and Kurdish officials as well as migrant advocacy groups.<\/p>\n
According to the Association of Returned Migrants from Europe to the Kurdistan Region, more than 100 young men from the Region have traveled to the front lines since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey left their homeland, swept up by the lies of gangs that transport our youth to Russia, and some to Ukraine. They are promised residency through military service and a monthly salary of $2,500,\u201d Bakr Ali, head of the association, told Rudaw last month.<\/p>\n
The Kurdish member of the Russian armed forces said he served near the front lines in Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine and encountered other Kurdish fighters there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were two other Kurds on this same front as me. One was from the Akre town [in Duhok province], and the other was from Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhelat). The one from Rojhelat was severely wounded and sent to Moscow for treatment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Originally from Sulaimani, the man said he was also promised Russian citizenship.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was told I would be given a Russian passport, but that claim had no basis; I haven’t received any passport to date. I urge the youth not to be deceived by these promises because their lives will truly be at risk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Although his contract expired three months ago, he said Russian authorities have prevented him from leaving.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy contract ended three months ago, but they won’t let me return. I call on the officials of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq to help me return,\u201d he said, adding that he is currently stationed about 45 kilometers from the front line.<\/p>\n
Muthanna Amin, a member of the Iraqi parliament\u2019s foreign relations committee, told Rudaw on Sunday Iraqi authorities are working to bring back Iraqi citizens, including Kurds, who joined the Russian military.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis young man’s contract has ended. We have worked on his case, and the Iraqi Embassy in Russia has sent an official letter to the Russian Ministry of Defense requesting they allow him to return,\u201d Amin told Rudaw.<\/p>\n
Amin said several Kurdish fighters in Russia have contacted Iraqi officials for assistance, while others have disappeared. \u201cThere are many Kurds in Russia. Several have contacted us to follow up on their cases. Some have now gone silent, and we don’t know what has happened to them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added that some Kurdish fighters have been captured by Ukrainian forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of these Kurds were taken to the front lines. In addition to those missing, some have been captured by Ukraine and are currently being detained in that country,\u201d Amin said.<\/p>\n
According to Amin, Iraq has formed a special committee to monitor the cases of citizens who joined foreign militaries, describing the practice as illegal under Iraqi law.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an illegal act; these individuals became fighters in another country without the state\u2019s permission, which is contrary to Iraqi law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He also alleged that networks recruiting Iraqis and Kurds for military service abroad are involved in human trafficking.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll those Kurds and Iraqis who are taken or go to Russia for military service are handled by specialized gangs, which falls under human trafficking and is completely illegal,\u201d Amin said.<\/p>\n
A Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) official told Rudaw on Sunday that authorities are aware of multiple cases involving young men traveling to Russia to fight in the war against Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese individuals went of their own volition. They are over 18 years old and were taken illegally through companies,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n
In February, Iraq\u2019s National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji announced that Baghdad would tighten legal and security measures against citizens joining foreign militaries, particularly those involved in the Russia-Ukraine war.<\/p>\n
Araji said in December that \u201chundreds of Iraqis\u201d were fighting in the conflict.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ivan Dovhanich, top Ukrainian diplomat in Iraq, told Rudaw around the same time that the Ukrainian authorities were working \u201cclosely\u201d with Iraqi officials to address the recruitment of Iraqi citizens by Russia.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s ambassador to Baghdad, Elbrus Kutrashev, acknowledged in November that Iraqis had joined the war, but said the cases were limited.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile such cases do exist, they are individual and numbered, not on a large scale as some try to portray,\u201d he said, adding that Russia \u201cdid not recruit them – they came voluntarily.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soran Hussein contributed to this report from Erbil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A Kurdish man serving with the Russian military has warned young people not to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":982018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7655],"tags":[42170,42169,42168,42167,42166,332],"class_list":["post-982017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-russia","tag-and-turkish","tag-arabic","tag-kurdish","tag-publishing-in-english","tag-rudaw-is-a-broadcast-and-digital-news-network-based-in-the-kurdistan-region-of-iraq","tag-russia"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116630122964197423","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=982017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/982018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=982017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=982017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=982017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}