Russia has deceptively recruited hundreds of Yemeni men to participate in combat operations in Ukraine through a company linked to the Houthi rebel group, writes Financial Times. Yemeni recruits who traveled to Russia told the publication that they were promised high-paying jobs and even Russian citizenship. However, when they arrived in the country, they were forcibly conscripted into the Russian army and sent to the front lines in Ukraine. Recruitment in this manner began in the summer — one of the contracts, obtained by FT, is dated July 3 and signed by the head of the contractor selection center in Nizhny Novgorod.
The contracts signed by the Yemenis mention a company founded by Abdulwali Abdo Hasan al-Jabri, a prominent Houthi politician. The registration documents state that it is a tour operator and a retail supplier of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals.
One of the recruits told FT that he was part of a group of about 200 Yemenis conscripted into the Russian army in September after arriving in Moscow. According to him, they were deceptively brought to Russia and made to sign contracts they couldn't even read. He was personally promised a lucrative job in the field of “security” or “engineering.” However, instead, a few weeks later, he, along with four other Yemenis, found himself on the front lines in Ukraine, dressed in military uniforms with Russian insignia. For several days, they were under fire, without warm clothing and proper food, digging trenches, after which one of them attempted suicide and was taken to the hospital.
Another Yemeni, Abdullah, said he was promised a bonus of $10,000 and $2,000 a month, as well as Russian citizenship for work in Russia in drone production. However, upon arriving in Moscow on September 18, his group was forcibly taken from the airport to a facility located five hours away from Moscow, “where a man speaking simple Arabic fired a gun over their heads when they refused to sign an employment contract that was written in Russian.”
The recruits were then put on buses, given basic military training, and sent to a military base near Rostov, close to the Ukrainian border.