The suspects, identified as Mizanur Rahman and Abu Taher, are linked to a trafficking network that deceived vulnerable Bangladeshis, according to Mohammad Asaduzzaman, commander of the elite police unit Special Response Battalion. Speaking on Wednesday, he said the victims' passports and phones were taken once they arrived in Russia and they were handed over to the Russian military.
A total of 20 Bangladeshis have been confirmed dead. Asaduzzaman said the victims were used as "bait" to locate enemy positions and that Russian forces determined their next course of action after the Bangladeshis fell victim to drone attacks. Two others are being treated in a hospital in Moscow, and six more remain on the battlefield, according to police citing a survivor who was injured and returned home.
Bangladeshi media reported that the victims, from poor backgrounds, had each paid around $8,000 for the fake jobs that ultimately led them to the front lines.
Both Russia and Ukraine have recruited thousands of foreign nationals since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago. An estimated 28,000 foreigners from 136 countries are said to be fighting in the Russian army, and officials believe Moscow deployed some 14,000 North Korean troops to counter Ukraine's 2024 incursion into the Kursk region. Ukraine says 16,000 foreign nationals from more than 70 countries are currently serving in its army.
At the United Nations General Assembly last month, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia deceptively recruits people from 47 countries for what he called an "absolutely brutal" campaign. Amnesty International has accused Russia of using "deceptive, coercive and exploitative practices" to recruit foreigners. Russia has previously dismissed accusations of coercing foreigners into joining its army.