Russia mass-recruiting Belarusians for war in Ukraine with millions of rubles and citizenship offers
Russia is increasingly recruiting Belarusian citizens to serve in its armed forces, offering large payments, fast-tracked citizenship and even the wiping of criminal records. The recruitment drive is mostly conducted online, targeting people in financial difficulty.
Foreign media report a sharp rise in recent months in online advertisements across Belarus offering residents contracts with the Russian armed forces. The ads spread through Telegram channels, Viber chats and local online communities, and journalistic investigations point to a significant increase in their numbers. The human rights initiative Belpol notes that recruiters deliberately use Belarusian phone numbers to appear more trustworthy.
Promises and risks
Prospective recruits are lured with substantial financial incentives — large one-time payments, salaries, housing, meals, a military pension and life insurance. Some offers include a lump sum of up to 4.35 million Russian rubles and a path to expedited Russian citizenship. Certain ads also mention help with debt problems and even promises to erase criminal records.
However, taking part in armed conflict abroad may conflict with Belarusian laws against mercenary activity, which carries a prison sentence of up to seven years. Recruiters nonetheless claim the service is legal, arguing that a person formally serves in the Russian armed forces rather than acting as a mercenary.
Who is being targeted
Among those recruited are mostly men from small towns and villages — often people with low incomes, debts or legal troubles who either do not fully grasp the consequences or are simply drawn by the chance to earn a large sum quickly. Human rights activists warn that foreign contract soldiers are frequently assigned to assault units, where the risk of death or injury is especially high.
The process typically begins with a conversation with a recruiter, after which the person travels to Russia — often via Smolensk or Pskov — to sign a contract. After signing, the chance to back out becomes extremely limited. Media reports stress this is not isolated recruiter initiative but a broader campaign to reinforce Russia's military personnel, made easier by Belarus's economic dependence on Moscow. Belarusian authorities do not officially acknowledge recruitment on this scale, and no visible action has been taken to stop it.
