Russia is working with the Houthi terrorist network to lure hundreds of Yemeni men to Russia under false pretenses to join the war in Ukraine, the Financial Times has revealed.
Yemeni recruits transferred to Russia under a “shadow human trafficking operation” were initially told they would receive well-paid jobs and Russian citizenship.
However, after arriving with the help of a person, Houthi-affiliated companiesmany appear to have been forced to join the Russian army, forced to sign combat contracts at gunpoint, and sent to the front lines in Ukraine.
Ukrainian soldiers of the 24th Brigade's mortar team are seen at their positions near Toretsk, March 26, 2024, as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues. ((Photo credit: Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu, via Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital was unable to reach the U.S. State Department or the Ukrainian Defense Ministry for comment on Russia's increased use of foreign fighter jets to support its war machine in Ukraine.
It is unclear whether any of the Yemeni men are Houthi terrorists or how many have been sent to fight in Ukraine. Sunday's Financial Times report He indicated that recruitment appears to have begun in July. At least 200 Yemeni men were reportedly part of just one group forcibly recruited into the Russian army in September, but most of them received little training before being sent to fight in Ukraine. I hadn't received it.
A video posted by a London-based news outlet showed at least five Yemeni men (four appearing in the video along with a cameraman) describing dire conditions, and one fellow conscript trying to commit suicide. He points out that he was taken to the hospital. It returned to service one day later.
“We're under shelling right now,” a man with a camera said, expressing fatigue as it showed a group of men barricaded in a forest in Ukraine. “Mining, drones, bunkering, we're hauling wood.”
U.S. diplomats told news outlets that plans coordinated between the Houthis and Russia show how far the Russian government is willing to go to build up its forces amid high casualty rates. .
Ukraine's Ministry of Defense on Monday assessed Russian casualties in the nearly three-year war at more than 730,000, while a U.S. assessment in early October put the number at about 115,000 dead and wounded. It was suggested that the number was closer to 600,000, including about 500,000.
A Ukrainian soldier fires at a target on the front lines as the Russian-Ukrainian war continues on April 18, 2023, as the Russian-Ukrainian war continues. (Photo by: Muhammad Enes Yildirim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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A report in the Financial Times suggests the number of Yemeni men forced to fight in Ukraine may be in the hundreds, perhaps more, but foreign fighters being drawn into Russia's war machine. They're not the only ones.
North Korea has sent about 12,000 troops to Russia's aid, and reports earlier this year suggested that soldiers from India and Nepal were lured into fighting for Moscow under false pretenses and pushed into the Ukraine war. It has been suggested that he had previously been promised another well-paying job.
It is unclear how many Indian men were drafted into the Russian army, but August time Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he appeared to have raised the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Moscow in July. Prime Minister Modi is said to have promised Russia that it would do everything possible to return all Indian mercenaries, but the status of that agreement remains unclear.
CNN similarly reported earlier this year that about 15,000 people from Nepal had been drafted to fight for Russia, a move that shows Russia targeting poor countries to falsely lure fighters into its ranks. It shows trends that indicate that
Since President Putin launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine in 2022, Russia has strengthened its ties with Iran and, by extension, with Iranian proxies such as the Houthis.
Demonstrators (mainly Houthi supporters) gather with weapons in Sanaa, Yemen, on November 8, 2024, to show support for the Palestinians and Lebanese Hezbollah. (Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)
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It is unclear what Russia has promised the Houthis in return for support for Moscow's latest conscription program, and security officials have yet to confirm any arms sales from Russia to the terrorist network.
However, Russia is known to have supported the group by providing targeting data that it uses in attacks on Western shipping in the Red Sea.
The Houthis also sent at least two delegations to Russia this year to meet with Kremlin officials.
