New report documents deception, coercion, and forced frontline deployment; urges Bangladesh to dismantle recruitment networks, protect survivors
(DHAKA, March 3, 2026)—The Government of Bangladesh should urgently dismantle and prosecute trafficking networks recruiting Bangladeshi men into Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and provide meaningful support and reparations to survivors and the families of those killed, said Fortify Rights and Truth Hounds in a new report released today.
The new 62-page report, “I Was Tricked into the War”: The Risk of Human Trafficking and Coerced Recruitment of Bangladeshi Men into Russia’s War in Ukraine, reveals patterns of deception, coercion, and abuse that have led to Bangladeshi men being transported across borders and forced onto the frontlines of the war in Ukraine.
Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues to destabilize global peace and security and fuel abusive recruitment practices targeting vulnerable men across Asia, Africa, and beyond. Recruitment brokers are drawing men into the Russian Armed Forces, often under false pretenses, promising civilian or non-combat jobs. Bangladeshi men are among those recruited and sent into live combat in what may amount to human trafficking under international law.
“Bangladeshi men have been deceived and trafficked into Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine,” said John Quinley, Director at Fortify Rights. “The scale of abuse is likely far greater than what we were able to document, demonstrating an urgent need for international action to address Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine.”
“We are witnessing how Russia is exploiting and weaponizing those with vulnerabilities to sustain its war machine,” said Oksana Pokalchuk, co-Executive Director at Truth Hounds. “The Russian Federation is shifting the human cost of its aggression beyond its own borders. This is not simply recruitment into war; it is exploitation in its most extreme form.”
The new report by Truth Hounds and Fortify Rights shows how brokers lured Bangladeshi men into the Russian Armed Forces by fraudulent job offers, transporting them through third countries with many signing Russian-language contracts they could not read. These men were then swiftly transferred to military facilities in Russia and forced into combat roles supporting Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.
At least one survivor described being told upon arrival in Russia that he had been “bought” to fight.
The research also found cases where South Asian men—from Sri Lanka and Nepal—willingly signed up for combat duty in the Russian Armed forces but later faced abusive conditions that they could not escape.
Between May 2025 and February 2026, Fortify Rights and Truth Hounds conducted 24 interviews in Bangladesh and Ukraine, including with Bangladeshi men recruited into the Russian Armed Forces, trafficking survivors, families of those killed in the war in Ukraine, anti-trafficking service providers, and Bangladeshi security officials. Truth Hounds also interviewed four Nepali and Sri Lankan prisoners of war in Ukraine and communicated with Ukrainian authorities responsible for overseeing prisoners of war.
The new report makes recommendations to the governments of Bangladesh, Ukraine, and Russia, as well as international organizations, to support trafficking survivors, end coercive and illegal recruitment practices, and stop the supply of men into Russia’s war of aggression. While the report is mostly focused on Bangladeshi recruits, its findings and recommendations are relevant to Russia’s broader abusive recruitment practices in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
Several survivors described being sent into combat with little or no training. Some were wounded by landmines and drone strikes. Others were beaten by commanders, denied pay, or prevented from leaving and had their passports confiscated. Victims’ attempts to escape were met with death threats. Families in Bangladesh were left in crushing debt after paying recruitment fees—often the equivalent of thousands of U.S. dollars—only to later receive news of a son or husband killed on the frontlines. Many families are now mourning while still trapped in the debt they incurred to send their loved ones abroad.
“I was repeatedly assured [by the Bangladeshi broker] that this was not military work and had nothing to do with the war,” one Bangladeshi survivor of trafficking, Maksudur Rahman, 31, told Fortify Rights. “Because of financial pressure and lack of alternatives, I agreed. … Eventually, we were taken to the airport [in Dhaka], bypassing proper procedures. Our flight route was Dhaka to Dubai and then onward to Russia.”
Maksudur Rahman said he arrived in Russia in December 2024: “At the [Moscow] airport, [brokers] demanded additional money. Groups of Bangladeshis were taken one by one into airport toilets where cash was collected to avoid cameras. I paid about US$1,000 under pressure.”
Maksudur Rahman then explained how he was sent to a Russian military compound:
[W]e were moved between locations in Moscow and later taken to a military cantonment. At first, we were given food and kept there for several days. Then, suddenly, we were transported at night to another location and eventually told through a translator that we had been “bought” to fight in the war. We protested and said we had come for civilian work, but we were threatened and abused. We were told the Russian government had paid a large sum for each of us and that we had no choice.
The title of this new report, “I Was Tricked into the War,” reflects the words of a Bangladeshi survivor who was trafficked into the Russian army. “I was tricked into the war by the brokers,” said Arman Mondol. “What happened to me is unjust, and I hope it does not happen to others again.”
Fortify Rights also spoke to relatives of Bangladeshis who died while trapped in the Russian Armed Forces.
The father of 22-year-old “Ahmed”—not his real name—from Brahmanbaria District of Chattogram (formerly known as Chittagong) Division in Bangladesh said: “Our family paid a total of 9.5 Lakh Bangladeshi taka [approximately US$8,600] to the [recruitment] agency. [Ahmed] first worked for five months as a welder. He then told me on the phone that he was given 20 days of training by the [Russian] military.”
Documents in Russian-language shared with Fortify Rights by Ahmed’s family indicate that he worked as a welder on the border with China near Blagoveschensk in Amur Oblast, Russia before joining the Russian Armed Forces. Ahmed’s visa document refers to Sinopec Engineering Group Rus LLC, an agency allegedly used by other victims trafficked into the Russian armed forces.
Describing the financial challenges faced by Ahmed’s family, his mother said: “We are a poor family. We took a loan to send him abroad, and we have been unable to pay it back.” Ahmed’s father went on to say:
[My son] was taken to Ukraine to fight. He told me on the phone he was in Ukraine [on the frontlines]. My son can’t read Russian. He signed documents without knowing exactly what was going to happen to him. … The agency broker betrayed him. Later, we translated some of the Russian documents, and it was a contract to join the Russian army in a fighting position.
At the time of writing, Ahmed’s body has not been returned to Bangladesh.
Contracting agencies and companies must ensure that their recruitment practices fully safeguard workers and protect them from exploitation, coercion, and abuse, said Fortify Rights and Truth Hounds. Bangladeshi authorities should investigate and hold accountable any brokers or contracting agencies involved in trafficking Bangladeshi citizens into the Russian armed forces, said Fortify Rights and Truth Hounds.
The full scale of trafficking of foreign nationals into the Russian Armed Forces remains unknown and is likely far greater than currently documented. While some individuals knowingly signed contracts promising financial and other incentives, few received promised payments or benefits, and many who willingly signed contracts with the Russian army later faced beatings, had their passports confiscated and wages withheld, and were prevented from leaving—conditions that may constitute forced labor and coercion under international human rights law. For example, one Nepali man told Truth Hounds:
The contract was in Russian. I did not understand what was written in the contract, and I fell for the things as others were saying: that there would be a [salary] of 300,000 Russian rubles [approximately US$3,200]. … [A]fter we were declared fit for war, [the Russian officials] took everything from me. I had my phone that I had brought from Nepal. … They even took my passport. … I had two passports with me. One was an old passport, and I had one new passport.
Later, his commander beat him and his Nepali bank cards, mobile phone, tablet, and passport were confiscated. He is now held in a prisoner-of-war camp in Ukraine after being captured on the frontlines.
The Government of Ukraine should screen all foreign fighters held as prisoners of war in Ukraine for human trafficking and other abuses. and work closely with international anti-trafficking organizations, including the International Organization for Migration, to identify survivors and ensure they receive protection, said Fortify Rights and Truth Hounds.
The new report clarifies that prisoner-of-war status does not negate recognition of human trafficking under international law. While not every case documented in the new report constitutes trafficking in persons, the evidence suggests recurring patterns consistent with trafficking. Furthermore, under the Palermo Protocol—the U.N. treaty to prevent, suppress, and punish human trafficking in persons, to which Russia is a state party—consent obtained through deception, fraud, or abuse of vulnerability is legally meaningless. Signing a contract in a language one does not understand does not constitute informed consent.
“Brokers are luring Bangladeshi men into an illegal, foreign war through deception, coercion, and abuse,” said John Quinley, Director at Fortify Rights. “This is not migration—it is exploitation. It is human trafficking. The Bangladesh government should act urgently to dismantle these networks, protect its citizens, and ensure that no one is exploited or forced into war. The Bangladesh government should publicly condemn Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine and stand firmly on the side of human rights.”
“Against the backdrop of significant losses by the Russian army, the Russian Federation is resorting to increasingly exploitative methods, including by trafficking men from South Asian countries that have nothing to do with this war,” said Maria Tomak, Engaged Researcher at Truth Hounds. “This practice not only prolongs Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which not only affects the Ukrainian people but serves to destabilize global peace and security and turns foreigners into expendable instruments of the Russian Federation’s military objectives.”