Reported by:
Wagdy Assalemi and Selma Mhaoud
After fleeing his war-torn homeland of Yemen, “Hamza” was working for subsistence wages in neighboring Oman when he heard about an attractive opportunity: sign up for a non-combat role with the Russian military for about $3,000 a month.
He says he expected to work as a security guard, or perhaps in construction. Now he and scores of other Yemeni recruits say they are on the front lines of Russia’s war in Ukraine – and they want out.
“It was not made clear that we would be soldiers,” said Hamza, which is a pseudonym used in order to protect him from retribution.
The recruiting company in Oman says the soldiers were told they were going to join the military, while a Yemeni official suggested there was little his government could do.
“After signing the contract to volunteer, the volunteer becomes subject to military law and its mechanisms,” said Brigadier General Fouad Al Muhtadi, who is Yemen’s military attaché in Russia.
“As far as we know, the contracts that are signed include all the terms and rights in full that relate to volunteers,” Al Muhtadi told OCCRP.
It is unclear how many Yemenis are fighting in Ukraine, but a reporter was able to join a WhatsApp group called “Stranded in Russia,” which has 150 members.
Some 74 recruits have written a letter to Yemen’s ambassador in Moscow, pleading for rescue. “We request that you intervene to save us from death,” says the letter.
The ambassador, Ahmed Salem Al Wahishi, said he brought up the subject with Russia’s foreign affairs ministry, although he did not specify any result of that dialogue.
“Contact is made with the relevant authorities to provide assistance in the matter. We serve the citizens. And God willing, it will be good,” he said.
Thousands of Yemenis have fled desperate conditions in their homeland since war broke out in 2015. A December 2023 United Nations report says around 250,000 people have been killed as a result of the conflict, while almost 83 percent of the country’s 30 million people live in poverty.
Many Yemenis have crossed the border into Oman seeking safety and employment. An Oman-based tour company, Al Jabri General Trading & Investment Co SPC, has tapped this group with offers of work – and eventual citizenship – in Russia.
The company’s owner, Abdul Wali Abdo Hassan Al Jabri, said the recruits were fully informed of their service in the military when they signed up.
“The Yemeni individuals who traveled to Russia to join the Russian army traveled with their consent,” Al Jabri said in a WhatsApp message.
“The individuals did not travel for any work other than joining the army, and our role was to coordinate for them only to facilitate their travel, like any travel coordination office,” he added.
One recruit provided reporters with a copy of the template of the contract with Al Jabri General Trading & Investment, which described work in “the military, security, or civilian field, based on the qualifications, experience, and capabilities.”
Another recruit, “Hicham,” said he expected to get non-combat work since he had no military experience. “It was not made clear that we would be soldiers,” he said.
After the Al Jabri company flew Hicham to Moscow, he said he signed another contract, this time with the Russian military. But the contract was in Russian, a language he didn’t understand. He was not allowed to take photos of the contract, and was not able to share a copy.
Two Yemeni recruits provided copies of certificates issued to them by a military unit commander. The Russian language document confirmed that they were sent to the Southern Military District.
In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree adding four occupied areas of Ukraine to the Southern Military District.
“We are in an unfamiliar landscape,” Hicham said. “We don’t have a military or combat background. We did not fight even in our own country.”
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Free Media for Investigative Journalism publishes this report in cooperation with OCCRP.