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The government of Vladimir Putin, an ally of Nicaragua’s dictatorship, has maintained since late 2022 a complex foreign fighter recruitment network that has succeeded in “attracting” around 27,000 citizens from more than 130 countries to fight in Russian ranks in Ukraine, according to an investigation by three international organizations. The NGOs “do not rule out” the possibility that Nicaraguans are among those thousands of foreign recruits.
The Russian recruitment system combines the enlistment of volunteers with the coercive or deceptive recruitment of men facing economic, social, or legal vulnerability in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, according to a report by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Truth Hounds, and the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law (KIBHR), released on April 29, 2026.
In an interview with CONFIDENCIAL and Esta Semana, Jimena Reyes, spokesperson for the FIDH, said the organization is currently unaware of specific cases of Nicaraguans recruited by Russia, although she clarified that “given the (Ortega regime’s) relationship with Russia, it is very possible that there are Nicaraguans being sent to the war front in Ukraine.”
According to the investigation, Russia’s recruitment of foreigners is driven by massive troop losses and the risk of growing domestic discontent if more Russian citizens are forced into combat. The number of foreign fighters, the report says, increased by more than 30% between September 2025 and February 2026, and Ukrainian intelligence services have identified plans to recruit an additional 18,500 foreigners before the end of 2026.
What is the profile of these foreign recruits?
There are several profiles, and that is part of the complexity. On the one hand, there are classic mercenaries — former military personnel selling their services to Russia who know exactly what they are signing up for. Some may even be motivated by ideological reasons. But today, they are a minority.
Then there are people who have been deceived. They believe they are going to perform military-related tasks far from the front lines, or that they are being hired for civilian security jobs, or even for work completely unrelated to public security. They sign contracts in Russian, and within a few weeks they find themselves in the army, at war. And finally, there is another group made up of migrants already living in Russia.
The report details cases of citizens recruited in Cuba and Colombia. There have also been reports involving citizens from Peru and El Salvador. How does the Russian recruitment system operate in Latin American countries?
We identified a large number of Latin Americans who have been recruited; the biggest figure is from Cuba. But taking Colombia as an example, there are two schemes. One involves offices run by former military personnel seeking to recruit mercenaries — people who know they are going to war. The other, which may even operate out of the same office, functions more like a company that uses social media platforms such as Telegram and Facebook to recruit vulnerable people desperately searching for work. They are offered the possibility of earning more money through supposedly civilian jobs, and are then given assistance obtaining tourist visas and the means to buy plane tickets to Russia.
Once in Russia, they receive brief training sessions, and that is when they realize they are actually in the army. Very quickly, most of them are sent directly to the front lines, into combat and the first wave of attacks — what the Russians themselves call “cannon fodder assaults,” meaning the positions with the highest number of casualties.
[The report estimates that between 1,000 and 8,000 Latin Americans have joined the Russian Armed Forces, “with the real figures likely much higher.”]
Possible Recruitment of Nicaraguans
Do you know of cases of recruitment in Nicaragua?
No, we do not know of any, but that does not mean there are none. The report covered 130 nationalities, and we were not able to focus on all of them. It is very difficult to determine the nationalities of the foreigners involved. The information used came from interviews with prisoners of war in Ukraine, where we identified the nationalities of detainees. There was also information provided by the Ukrainian side, including Ukrainian intelligence, as well as fieldwork — though not in Latin America. So the information regarding Latin America is incomplete.
What we wanted to show was that there is a global recruitment network, but we did not have the capacity to investigate every country individually. And given the relationship between the Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo regime and Russia, it is very possible that there are Nicaraguans being sent to the war front in Ukraine.
Could Russia eventually recruit Nicaraguans into its army?
Yes, it is entirely possible. And if we draw a parallel with what is happening with North Korea — another highly closed country under a dictatorial regime — we know that around 14,000 North Koreans have been recruited or even transferred there. In that case, there are state-to-state agreements between Russia and North Korea. These individuals are effectively confined in Russia, whose government has committed to maintaining strict surveillance and restrictions on their freedom of movement. One could imagine, though I do not know for certain, that agreements may exist between Nicaragua and Russia to send Nicaraguan officials or citizens there. But honestly, I do not know.
Cuba, like Nicaragua, is a longtime Russian ally, yet that has not prevented the recruitment of Cuban citizens. What makes Cubans vulnerable to these recruitment networks?
Cuba’s situation is paradoxical, because the Cuban government has prosecuted people involved in these recruitment networks — as a way of publicly signaling criticism of these schemes. But at the same time, experts say it would not have been possible for these Cubans to be recruited without Cuban authorities facilitating things such as passport issuance. So why are there so many Cubans? Why are they the largest Latin American nationality involved? The main reason is probably the extreme vulnerability of the Cuban population. We know there is a profound crisis and widespread poverty in Cuba.
You mention that the Russian government or these recruiters offer money to foreigners. How much are they paid?
Roughly between 2,000 and 2,500 euros per month (between 2,350 and 2,937 dollars), depending on the country. The amount varies from country to country.
One in Five Foreign Recruits Dies in Combat
What route or stages do Latin Americans follow after being recruited by Russia?
What we know is that contracts are signed in Latin American countries. There are, for example, Russian Houses or intermediaries who help recruits obtain visas and buy plane tickets. They then travel to Russia — although in some cases they first arrive in another country, which is sometimes the place where they were originally promised work, before later being transferred to Russia.
Once in Russia, they are sent to training centers for only a few weeks. It is important to understand that some of the people deceived in these schemes have no military background whatsoever. They are then assigned to military units, and that is when the combat begins.
What information do you have about survival rates in these so-called “cannon fodder” missions?
According to the information we have, one in every five foreign recruits dies within months of beginning military activities. That is why we want to warn people — so vulnerable populations understand they should not trust Russian promises of jobs or visas, because there is a serious risk of ending up forced into war and losing their lives.
Then there are also the problems surrounding the repatriation of bodies and the lack of information provided to families. We recently saw this in Peru, where hundreds of families are seeking information about loved ones who were recruited and sent to Russia.
Russian Recruitment as “Human Trafficking”
The report mentions raids in mosques and workplaces in Russia. Is Russia also recruiting foreign migrants already inside the country and sending them to the war front?
There are two systems for recruiting foreigners. One is the international recruitment network, but we also identified that within Russia itself, since 2023, there has been an entire machinery aimed at recruiting migrants, using schemes involving deception, coercion, and violence. For example, we spoke with a Moroccan man studying medicine who had changed residences and faced an administrative issue because he was no longer living at the address he had officially registered. When he was detained under that pretext, he was told: either you sign this contract, which meant joining the army, or we will send you to prison. Authorities go to migrant housing centers, detain people, and pressure them into signing.
The report concludes there are reasonable grounds to state that Russia operates a global human trafficking system. What elements support attributing this crime to the Russian state?
Human trafficking includes recruiting people, providing the means for them to be transported, and preventing them from returning home. We documented accounts of passports being confiscated, deception, coercion, and even violence against individuals — particularly migrants living in Russia who refused to sign military contracts.
Russian law was modified to allow payments to private recruiters. It was also changed so that recruits no longer need to speak Russian to join the Russian army. In other words, a legal framework was created that enabled these trafficking practices, alongside all the legal elements that constitute human trafficking.
It is trafficking because the recruitment is deceptive, because financial mechanisms are used to transport people, and because once they are displaced, they are unable to return to their home countries. In that sense, we believe the elements required to classify these Russian-organized schemes as human trafficking are present.
