Colombians vs. Iraqis. Exotic recruitment for the war in Ukraine

Russia is recruiting young Iraqis to join its army and fight on the front in Ukraine, the AFP news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the results of the investigation. Iraqi citizens are tempted by the prospect of good earnings and the possibility of obtaining a Russian passport. The Ukrainians also benefit from this exotic recruitment, and their army is joined by contractors from… Colombia.

Social media such as TikTok and Telegram are used for recruitment, whose creators provide assistance to potential Arab recruits – not only from Iraq, but also from Syria, Egypt and other countries. Offers on Telegram are tailored to younger recipients who are promised favorable financial conditions. They include a monthly salary of four times the salary in the Iraqi army, or $2,800, and a one-time payment upon joining the Russian armed forces of up to $20,000. dollars. In addition, Iraqis are offered, among others: Russian passports, insurance or pensions.

The creators of such accounts provide comprehensive assistance in arranging travel and visas for going to Russia and joining the army there. They also provide a ready-made list of important military terms in Russian, such as “ammunition is out,” “mission accomplished,” “we have casualties,” and “suicide drone attack.” There is also no shortage of accounts offering other similar services, including assistance in sending money earned to families in Iraq.

The agency noted that similar methods had previously been used by Russians to recruit young men from Central and South Asian countries and Cuba.

AFP also managed to contact one of the Iraqi men who went to Russia and joined its army, and now posts on social networks praising his choice and encourages and recruits others to follow in his footsteps.

“Give me an Iraqi soldier and Russian weapons and we will liberate the world from Western colonialism,” he declared in one of his posts.

Abbas Hamadullah, using the pseudonym Abbas al-Munaser, is one of the Iranian men who enlisted in the army and are fighting on the front in Ukraine. Although initially this was not his plan and he intended to go further to Europe, numerous billboards encouraging him to serve in the Russian army prompted him to make this decision.

“It's not about Russia or Ukraine. My priority is my family,” he admitted, assessing that there is no future in Iraq.

Munaser joined the Russian army in 2024 and has already received a Russian passport. He is happy with his decision because he can send his family an amount of “about $2,500” each month, which is impossible for many Iraqis in the country to obtain.

However, despite the financial benefits, the man emphasized that it is a risky decision because – as he says – “there is death here (at the front – PAP). “We have lived through many wars in Iraq, but this one is different. It is a high-tech war, a drone war,” he reported.

In addition to encouragement for potential recruits, there are numerous comments on social media from families looking for their loved ones with whom they have lost contact. They often receive conflicting information about what is happening to their loved ones – sometimes from the prosaic that they are suffering from flu, to the worst – that they died on the front in Ukraine.

Iraq's history has been full of conflicts, especially in the 21st century. First, there was the American invasion, and then the rise of the Islamic State broke out, which greatly weakened this state. The Iraqis also defended Shiite places of worship in Syria, where they fought alongside the Russians.

Nevertheless, serving in the Russian army and fighting on the front in Ukraine is associated by many people with the word “mercenary”, which has a particularly pejorative meaning in Arabic. For this reason, many local communities consider such service to be a disgrace to the entire community. Often the taboo is so great that families are either harassed or even have to leave their current places of residence. (PAP)

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