Citizens of Bangladesh who were hoping to secure a civilian job in Russia have ended up, in fact, on the front lines of the war against Ukraine. According to an investigation conducted by the Associated Press, dozens, perhaps even hundreds of Bangladeshis were recruited under false pretenses, promised well-paid civilian jobs, but ended up in the Russian army.
One of them, Maksudur Rahman, tells that a recruiter promised him a caretaker job in Russia, with a salary of $1,500 per month and the chance to obtain a residence permit. A few weeks after arriving in Moscow, he was sent directly to the front.
Rahman and two other Bangladeshis who managed to escape claim they were forced to sign documents in Russian, which turned out to be military contracts. Subsequently, they were trained in handling heavy weapons, evacuating the wounded, operating drones.
When Rahman protested that he had not agreed to fight, a Russian commander told him through a translator: “Your agent sent you here. We bought you.”
The Bangladeshis were forced to carry out dangerous tasks, such as transporting ammunition, evacuating the wounded, or retrieving bodies. Those who refused were beaten and threatened with up to 10 years in prison. “They yelled at us: ‘Why aren’t you working? Why are you crying?’ and they kicked us,” Rahman recounts.
After seven months on the front, he was injured, hospitalized in a military hospital near Moscow, and managed to escape, seeking the help of the Bangladeshi embassy.
Details, HERE
