War, Outsourced

The independent Russian outlet Vazhnye Istoriy has reported that a private military training center in Moscow is recruiting foreign nationals to fight in Russia's War on Ukraine, while receiving millions of rubles from state entities and private businesses, some of which say they are paying to avoid having their own employees mobilized.

According to the investigation, job postings appeared earlier this year on the Russian recruitment website hh.ru seeking linguistics or international relations students fluent in English, Arabic, French, Urdu, Hindi, or Swahili. The employer, a private military training center called Voyevoda, advertised positions for "international communications specialists."

The job involved searching social media for foreigners with prior military experience, or a desire to gain it, requesting passport scans for screening, and forwarding qualified "warm leads" to supervisors. Recruiters would initially work as contractors, but those who delivered 25 recruits to the front were promised formal employment with full benefits. Candidates were offered a base salary of R110,000 (about $1,425) per month, plus R100,000 (about $1,300) for each foreign recruit sent to war.

Separate postings sought a "visa processing specialist" to facilitate the entry into Russia of citizens from countries including Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

Financial documents reviewed by the outlet show that, in 2025, some recruiters earned substantial sums. For instance, a 21-year-old from Nizhny Novgorod received nearly R7 million rubles (about $90,700) in one month for "candidate selection services." A warehouse worker from the Urals earned more than R3 million (about $38,900) over the year. It's unclear whether all of them were specifically targeting foreigners. The publication Verstka reported that, as early as 2024, the center was conducting campaigns among residents of Russia's regions.

Founded in 2014, after Russia’s first incursion into eastern Ukraine, the center initially operated as a civilian combat training facility, offering courses with military instructors and access to armored vehicles. Until 2024, the business reportedly generated losses. By late 2025 and early 2026, the founder registered multilingual websites promoting service in what was described as a non-existent international legion. In 2025, deposits to company accounts exceeded half a billion rubles (more than $6.48 million).

Though the center does not appear in public procurement records, internal documents indicate it received more than R360 million (about $4.66 million) in 2025 from regional and municipal authorities and private businesses. Payment descriptions often referenced “candidate selection services” for contracts with the Russian armed forces.

Nearly R98 million (about $1.27 million) came from Moscow’s finance department, and R40.8 million (about $529,000) from a municipal waste management enterprise. Developers in Moscow contributed about R30 million (roughly $389,000). A regional business association in Yaroslavl allocated R54.5 million (about $706,000). Agricultural enterprises and farmers from central Russia transferred more than R13.5 million (about $175,000), while individual farm owners sent between R200,000 and R600,000 (about $2,590 to $7,770).

A senior manager at a large agricultural holding, speaking anonymously, said regional authorities pressure companies to contribute. "They issue contracts from above and frame it as recruitment services, but in reality it’s a kind of ‘humanitarian aid’ for the war," he said. Companies, he added, see payments as a way to avoid forced mobilization of their workers. "Before, military officers and police were literally pulling people off tractors in the fields."