Kamrul Hasan went abroad to earn a living, definitely not to fight in Ukraine.

The 40-year-old from Laur village in Brahmanbaria’s Nabinagar travelled to Russia in July 2025 to work for a company, leaving behind his wife, Nazmin Akter, in Bangladesh. After the project he had been working on ended late last year, Kamrul began looking for a way to move to Italy.

It was then, according to video statements made by Kamrul and another Bangladeshi who identified himself as Suman Shahriar, that they came into contact with a broker they named "Udbegh Gamer". The broker allegedly promised to take them to Italy from Russia via Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia or Poland, and Germany. The deal was Tk 10 lakh each, with half to be paid before departure and the rest after reaching Italy.

They never made it to Italy.

In video statements circulated on social media, Kamrul and Suman alleged that the broker took Tk 5 lakh from each of them and instead tricked them into signing Russian military contracts they did not understand. They said they were later taken to a military camp in Tula, trained for 35 days, sent towards Ukraine, and eventually detained by Ukrainian soldiers after fleeing a mission.

Caption

AI-generated representational illustration depicting the route described by two Bangladeshi men who allege they were promised jobs in Italy but were instead taken to a Russian military camp.

"We came to Russia for work. We did not come to join this war," Kamrul said in the video, appealing to the Bangladesh government to bring them back from Ukraine.

The two men are now being held in a detention facility in Ukraine, which they described as a jail for prisoners of war.

The Daily Star could not independently verify all the details of their journey, including the exact spelling of the broker’s name and the full sequence of dates mentioned in the videos. It is also unclear how the videos surfaced on social media.

This correspondent visited Kamrul’s home but could not contact any of his family members. Information about his background and work in Russia was gathered from neighbours and other local residents, who said they had learned the details from his family. Neighbours also said Kamrul had earlier lived in Singapore for a long period before going to Russia, hoping to reach Europe from there.

According to Kamrul’s video statement, he and Suman met the broker in Moscow in March. The broker told them his office was in Tula and that they would have to go there to sign papers for the Italy route. But when they were taken from Moscow to Tula, they were brought to a room and shown papers written only in Russian.

"We refused to sign after seeing that the documents were in Russian," Kamrul said in the video. He alleged that the broker had already taken Tk 5 lakh from each of them before producing the papers. They were kept in the room for around an hour, he said. Later, Russian army personnel came and took them to a camp.

Suman gave a similar account in his video statement. He said they had worked in Russia until the company’s project ended. After that, they contacted the broker, believing he would send them to Italy.

"We paid Tk 5 lakh each. But instead of making an Italy contract, he made us sign contracts with the Russian army," Suman said.

Both men said they were taken to Tula, where they stayed at a camp for three days. They then underwent military training for 35 days and were given seven days of rest before being sent towards Ukraine.

Kamrul said in the video that they reached a mission location around March 11. Food was scarce, he said. For four days, they were given only two 100ml portions of water and a 300-gram tin of beef. On the night of March 12, their commander told them they had a mission at 6:00am the next day, Kamrul said. They decided not to go.

"But at around 3:00am, we left the place, leaving behind the army uniform, helmet and guns," he said.

After walking around 100 kilometres towards the Ukrainian side, they were detained by two Ukrainian soldiers.

Suman said they fled because they were in a desperate condition and had not been given proper food.

"We did not go to the mission. We left everything and came towards Ukraine. On the road, Ukrainian army members caught us and brought us to jail."

An official of the Bangladesh embassy in Poland, which handles Ukraine-related issues, told The Daily Star that the mission was aware of the Bangladeshis stuck in Ukraine and was regularly in touch with the victims’ relatives.

"We are maintaining communication through email and trying to rescue the victims," the official said, requesting anonymity.

The Daily Star earlier reported, citing a joint report by Bangkok-based Fortify Rights and Ukraine-based Truth Hounds, that at least 104 Bangladeshis had been recruited into the Russian army as of February 2026, while at least 34 had reportedly been killed in fighting with Ukrainian forces.

The report found that many were lured with promises of jobs as cleaners, factory workers, electricians, or security guards, paid brokers between $1,000 (around Tk 1.2 lakh) and $5,000 (around Tk 6.1 lakh), signed Russian-language contracts they could not read, and were later sent to military facilities and the front lines. Some survivors also reported passport seizure, assault, non-payment of wages, and threats when they tried to leave.

Shariful Hasan, associate director of the BRAC Migration Programme and Youth Platform, said many workers are sent abroad with promises of jobs in companies or other institutions. But when the promised work does not materialise, some become vulnerable.

"When they do not get work, they are often asked within two or three days to sign agreements in the name of arranging other jobs," he told The Daily Star. He added that such agreements have, in some cases, been used to push workers into the war.