100+ foreign nationals from 32 countries held in Ukrainian captivity

The number of foreign prisoners has been rising each year. The coordination headquarters noted that this is linked to more foreigners signing contracts with the Russian military, which in turn increases the number captured by Ukraine.

As of July 2025, nearly half of all prisoners in Ukraine are foreigners, excluding Russians. According to the coordination headquarters, they make up 49% of the total, compared with 42% last year, 9% in 2023, and just 1% in 2022.

The project I Want to Live obtained lists from sources within the Russian armed forces of nearly 16,900 foreigners from 121 countries and unrecognized territories who have fought or are still fighting in the Russian army. Among them are more than 4,600 citizens of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan; over 1,000 from African countries; and almost 10,000 from other states and territories. At least 678 are known to have died.

As of June 2025, 6,162 foreigners without Russian citizenship had signed contracts with the Russian army, up from 6,011 for all of 2024.

Journalists from Slidstvo.Info interviewed a Belarusian prisoner of war. Forty-three-year-old Mykola Zhuravlyov had lived in Russia for more than a decade, working as a construction laborer. In February 2025, he signed a contract citing “patriotic feelings” toward Russia and Belarus, as well as a desire to earn money.

“Training included not only Russians; there were people with citizenship from Uzbekistan, Dagestan, Kazakhstan… basically the whole ‘Soviet Union’ was there. Plenty of different nationalities,” Zhuravlyov said.

After a month at the camp, he received 1,900 hryvnias and did not see the promised payments from the Russian army for participating in the war against Ukraine.