In addition to Russians, over 100 citizens from 32 countries are held in Ukrainian captivity. Most of the captured foreigners are from Central Asia.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners reported this upon request from Slidstvo.Info.
Currently, Uzbekistan is in first place, Tajikistan is in second place. Nepal, Belarus, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, and Yemen are also among the leaders in terms of number.
The number of such prisoners is growing every year. The Coordination Headquarters explains: this is because more foreigners have begun to sign contracts with the Russian army, and therefore more people are being taken prisoner. As of June 2025, 6 162 foreigners without Russian citizenship had signed contracts with the Russian army, while for the whole of 2024 there were 6,011 of them.
According to statistics from the Coordination Headquarters, in July the share of foreigners (except Russians) among all prisoners reached 49%. For comparison, for the whole of last year there were 42% of them, in 2023 — 9%, and in 2022 — 1%.
In addition, from sources in the Russian Armed Forces, the "I Want to Live"; project received lists of names of 16 894 foreign citizens from 121 countries and unrecognized territories of the world who fought or continue to fight against Ukraine as part of the Russian army.
These include 4 658 citizens of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, 1 013 citizens of African countries and another 9 961 citizens of other countries and territories. At least 678 people from this list are currently known to have died.
- Volodymyr Zelensky reported on April 8, 2025, that two Chinese citizens who fought in the Russian army had been captured in the Donetsk region. This was the first publicly known case of the participation of Chinese military personnel in the war against Ukraine on the side of the Russian Federation.
- In May, the Republic of Togo reported that several of its citizens had fought on the side of the Russian Federation. They were captured by Ukrainian fighters.
- Russia is also using North Korean soldiers in the war with Ukraine — the first of them arrived at the front in October 2024, when it was about 12 thousand people. And in March 2025, North Korea sent another 3 thousand soldiers.
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