More than 100 Bangladeshis have been recruited into Russia’s war against Ukraine, and dozens have been killed on the front lines, according to rights groups that say many of the men were misled, exploited, or financially trapped before ending up in combat.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Star, John Quinley, director of Bangkok-based Fortify Rights, and Oksana Pokalchuk, co-executive director of Ukraine-based Truth Hounds, disclosed the findings of a joint report to be launched today.
The report is based on interviews with 24 people in Bangladesh and Ukraine, including survivors, families of the deceased, and prisoners of war from Sri Lanka and Nepal.
According to the findings, at least 104 Bangladeshis were identified as having been recruited, with at least 34 dead based on Ukrainian information. Researchers, however, said the real toll could be higher and referred to “dozens” killed.
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FAMILIES AWAIT
Several relatives told the researchers they have been lobbying Bangladesh’s foreign ministry to bring back the bodies of their loved ones. Many have yet to receive them.
“They want to bury their sons properly,” Quinley said. “They are still waiting.”
The report documents a pattern of recruitment that begins not with ideology, but with desperation.
Many of the men paid brokers between $1,000 and $5,000 per person, believing they were securing overseas jobs. Some thought they would work in factories in Europe. Others believed they would take up non-combat roles linked to the military.
Instead, several were routed through countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates before being taken to Russia.
CONTRACTS IN RUSSIAN
According to the researchers, the men could not read the documents written completely in the Russian language, were not provided translators or legal assistance, and signed without fully understanding they were enlisting in a war.
“They were not given informed consent,” Quinley said.
One Bangladeshi man told researchers he had signed up, hoping to send money home to his impoverished family. He believed he would serve in a support role. After arrival, he was deployed to occupied Ukraine and sent to the front lines.
When he pleaded to return home, he was beaten by commanders after disagreements, the report says.
Fortify Rights later interviewed him after he managed to return to Bangladesh. He said others with him could not return.
FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION
The financial promises also often collapsed. Recruits were told they could earn around $2,000 per month, according to the findings.
In many cases, however, they were paid less than promised or not paid at all. Some were forced to use whatever money they earned inside Russia and were unable to send funds back home.
“In many situations, people paid for a job opportunity,” Pokalchuk said. “But they found themselves on the battlefield with the risk of being injured or killed.”
Truth Hounds said similar patterns have been documented in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and India, with foreign nationals now among prisoners of war in Ukraine.
Bangladeshi anti-trafficking police told the researchers that coercive practices had been used by recruitment agencies. This contrasts with earlier claims by some Bangladeshi authorities that those who travelled to Russia did so of their own will.
The report does not name specific brokers or map the full network but concludes that organised recruitment and smuggling operations were involved. Russian authorities, the researchers said, are also implicated because recruits formally signed military documents upon arrival.
So far in 2026, the groups say they have not documented new confirmed cases of recruitment. They noted that Bangladeshi authorities have strengthened monitoring at entry and exit points but cautioned that trafficking networks could adapt.
The report urges the Bangladeshi government to crack down on recruitment agencies, strengthen anti-trafficking coordination between police and civil society, and provide better support for survivors returning home.
It also calls on the government to press more forcefully for the return of bodies and to take a clearer stance on Russia’s war.
For families in Bangladesh, the issue is less about geopolitics and more about loss.
Young men who left to earn a living have come back injured or traumatised -- if they returned at all. Some families borrowed heavily to pay brokers. In several cases, they lost both their savings and their sons.
“What we see is the exploitation of poverty,” Quinley said. “Without stronger action, more Bangladeshis could be drawn into similar schemes.”
The war is being fought thousands of miles away. But for some households in Bangladesh, its consequences are now painfully close to home.
NUMBERS COULD BE HIGHER
Regarding the aforesaid reports of 34 deaths of Bangladeshis in the frontline, Shariful Hasan, associate director of BRAC’s Migration Programme and Youth Platform, said the number cited in the report is likely a minimum estimate and that the actual figure could be significantly higher.
“Our concern is much greater,” he said. “Based on our observations, this number is at least the minimum. We believe more Bangladeshis have gone than what has been identified so far.”
“Especially from a few areas of Bangladesh -- Noakhali, Lakshmipur and Mymensingh -- the number of people who went seems substantial. Our concern is that the figure may be close to a thousand or even exceed a thousand,” Shariful told The Daily Star yesterday.
He added that BRAC had received multiple requests from families seeking assistance to bring back the bodies of those killed.
“It is true that we have submitted requests in several cases to bring back dead bodies at the request of families,” he said. “But the bodies have not been returned.”
Shariful said the realities of a large and active war zone make repatriation extremely difficult.
“In such a large battlefield, it is often not possible to retrieve bodies. The situation makes it practically impossible in many cases,” he said.
Citing what BRAC has learned, he said many Bangladeshis — along with some African nationals — were reportedly placed on the front lines and used in highly vulnerable positions.
“We have come to know that some Bangladeshis and Africans were kept at the very front and used effectively as shields,” he said. “They had no knowledge of warfare, no training, yet were placed in front-line combat positions. That is why the number of deaths appears to be high.”
“It is unfortunate that the government did not appear to take sufficient initiative to raise awareness or act proactively on this issue,” Shariful added.
