The British Ministry of Defense in its daily review of the Ukraine war reported about the attempts of the Russian authorities to recruit labor migrants from Central Asian countries for the hostilities.

Recruiters, reportedly, are visiting mosques and migration centers, and are offering foreigners to join the Russian army.

According to Radio Liberty Europe, migrants are promised a one-time payment of $2,390 in rubles and a salary of up to $4,160 per month (in rubles). In addition, the authors of the review added that Russia had adopted amendments to the legislation on fast-track admission to the citizenship of the Russian Federation, who have signed a contract to serve in the Russian army.

Reportedly, high salaries and the possibility of fast-track acquisition of Russian citizenship could be of interest to some migrants. Foreigners who have joined the military service, according to the British Ministry of Defense, are likely to be sent to the front line, where the level of losses of Russian troops is extremely high.

An attempt to recruit labor migrants is just one of the ways in which the Russian authorities are trying to achieve the goal declared by the Ministry of Defense, to send 400,000 “volunteers” to the war. The authors of the review believe that the authorities of the Russian Federation will try not to announce a new wave of mobilization for as long as possible in order to avoid dissatisfaction with residents.

The amendments, which enable foreigners who have signed a contract to serve in the Russian army, to obtain fast track Russian citizenship, were adopted in September 2022. In December, it was reported that announcements were broadcast on Moscow public transport in Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Tajik languages with a call to enlist in the Russian armed forces in exchange for obtaining Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure, Meduza reports.

In May 2023, the authorities of Yugra (Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug) announced that foreigners who joined the Russian army in the region and were sent to war in Ukraine would receive 500 thousand rubles each, and those who were wounded and seriously injured - up to 1 million rubles.

“The predicted number of recipients of support is 2.5 thousand people,” the regional government said in a statement.