Bangladesh arrests two over alleged trafficking of locals to fight for Russia in Ukraine

Bangladesh police have arrested two men they say were part of a trafficking network that lured at least 30 Bangladeshis to Russia with false promises of high-paying jobs and then handed them over to the Russian military. The case is linked to the war in Ukraine and to allegations that some of the victims were used in combat after being taken abroad. Police said the suspects were identified as Mizanur Rahman and Abu Taher.

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Mohammad Asaduzzaman, commander of the Special Response Battalion, said the men were arrested on Wednesday. He said the victims' passports and phones were taken once they arrived in Russia, before they were transferred to the military. According to his account, 17 of the trafficked victims who reached Russia in early May were killed on the first day of deployment after receiving only minimal training.

Police said a total of 20 Bangladeshis have now been confirmed dead. Authorities also said two of the victims are being treated in a Moscow hospital and six others remain on the battlefield. A survivor who was injured and later returned home told police that the victims came from poor backgrounds and had each paid about $8,000 for the fake jobs that took them to Russia.

The allegations point to a wider pattern of exploitation in which vulnerable people are drawn into foreign conflicts through deceptive recruitment. The case matters because it connects organised trafficking with the international recruitment of foreign fighters in the Russia-Ukraine war. Both sides have relied on foreign nationals since Russia launched its invasion more than four years ago, and the use of deceptive job offers adds a criminal dimension to that recruitment.

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For Bangladesh, the case raises questions about how citizens were moved abroad, who facilitated the network, and how many others may still be missing or at risk. The police account also places the case within a broader global trend of foreign enlistment in the war. Officials cited by police said Russia has recruited large numbers of foreign nationals, while Ukraine has also drawn in fighters from abroad.

The allegations in Bangladesh are especially serious because they suggest that people were not only recruited under false pretences, but were then exposed to combat conditions with little preparation. What remains unclear is the full scale of the network, the route used to move the victims, and whether more arrests will follow. It is also not clear how many of the missing Bangladeshis may still be alive, injured, or detained.

Police have said the investigation is continuing, and the case is likely to draw further scrutiny over trafficking, foreign recruitment and the treatment of civilians drawn into the war.

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