Nurjamal has been a chef for 10 years in Russia's Khabarovsk region, where she came as a labor migrant from Kyrgyzstan looking for a job.
Despite being a Kyrgyz citizen with no Russian passport, Nurjamal has received multiple offers with tantalizing benefits to work for the Russian military in war-torn areas of Ukraine.
"They promised me 200,000 rubles ($2,000) per month [contract] or 1 million rubles ($10,297) per year,” said Nurjamal, whose name has been changed for security reasons. “I immediately refused, saying that Russia has its own citizens to fight in Ukraine. They asked: 'What's the difference for you? You came here to work and you need money.' But I said I value my life more than money."
But recruiters did not give up easily.
They called her two more times from unlisted numbers, urging her to go to Ukraine to help the Russian war effort that began in February 2022 and has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people and uprooted millions of others.
"I declined those invitations as well. But these days -- despite not having Russian citizenship -- many Kyrgyz citizens, especially young men, have been recruited to join the war. Recruiters promise to provide you with a Russian passport and 1 million rubles. Most Kyrgyz migrants are still refusing the offers and [some even] return to Kyrgyzstan to avoid the [pressure to join the] war," she said.
Central Asian-born migrants both with and without Russian citizenship emerged as an important target in Russia's military recruitment drive through the mercenary group Wagner -- which scoured penal institutions for recruits -- or in the partial mobilization announced by President Vladimir Putin in September 2022.
Several hundred thousand Kyrgyz work in Russia as labor migrants due to the high rate of unemployment in Kyrgyzstan.
'She-Wolves' In The War
Relatives of an imprisoned woman in Russia originally from Kyrgyzstan showed one of her letters to them to RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service. In it, she said Russian Defense Ministry officials visited the prison to encourage women to join the war effort.
"[Officials from the Defense Ministry] recorded our names and listed the volunteers. [Many of] those with long sentences signed up to go [to the war] in the hope of gaining their freedom afterward. But I refused. God willing, I hope to go to Kyrgyzstan," wrote the woman, who was convicted of drug trafficking while working in Russia and sentenced to 12 years in prison in the Vladimir region.
Olga Romanova, a Russian journalist and human rights defender, said many female convicts from occupied areas in Ukraine as well as from prisons in southwest Russia have been recruited to work in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
WATCH: Many Central Asian migrants are among the estimated 50,000 prisoners who were sent from Russian jails to fight in Ukraine. RFE/RL spoke with current and former prisoners and to parents of migrants killed fighting in Ukraine. They revealed the techniques used by the authorities to pressure reluctant prisoners onto the battlefield. (Published August 28, 2023)
"About 50 female prisoners from Donetsk and Snejnoe were recruited [from occupied parts of Ukraine] as well as at least 100 women from Russian prisons in southern regions who are working on the front line," Romanova told Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, adding that such women “are calling themselves 'she-wolves.' They are not cooks, nurses, or paramedics. They fight like stormtroopers. It became known that women from a colony in the Lipetsk region [of western Russia] are also being recruited."
Quick Study To Become A 'War Nurse'
Recruiters also visited the home of Ainura (not her real name) -- another Kyrgyz woman who has been working in Russia for about a decade -- and asked both her and her husband to go to Ukraine.
"Now [recruiters] are even coming to our home and trying to recruit us as cooks or proposing to study for one or two months to become war nurses,” she said. “I heard that some of my colleagues have also received similar proposals.”
Many of the Central Asia migrants in Russia are unable to openly discuss their involvement in the war due to personal concerns and family security. Some also fear that saying the wrong thing could result in deportation.
Jumabek, a migrant worker from Kyrgyzstan (his name has been changed), shared information about some migrants who were apprehended on the street by police and put in an "educational camp" before being sent to war a month later.
"There was a case in August where a Kyrgyz guy was forced to sign and enlist while walking on the street. He said he would go to the camp after doing some shopping, but instead ran away and [escaped back] to Kyrgyzstan,” he said. “Most labor migrants do not understand the nature of the documents they are signing."
“Tajik and Uzbek nationals without work permits in Russia are really under pressure,” Jumabek said. “And if a Kyrgyz citizen has a Russian passport but has not registered for military service, they are taken directly to the war. We don’t even notice it because officials are forcing them to sign agreements not to tell their relatives and sometimes their phones are confiscated.”
RFE/RL has reported about hundreds of Central Asian migrants who have been hired by Russian firms to work in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory despite warnings from their governments not to do so. Kyiv has also stated that such workers will be seen as accomplices of the Russian invaders. Many have been killed in battle and sent back to Kyrgyzstan for burial.
The Kyrgyz Embassy in Moscow has also been holding informative meetings for migrants from Kyrgyzstan.
Embassy spokeswoman Nazgul Jusubakunova said diplomatic officials visit Russian prisons and meet with Kyrgyz detainees.
"We have not received any official reports indicating that women detainees from Kyrgyzstan were involuntarily involved in military actions," Jusubakunova said.
The Kyrgyz Interior Ministry said there were 1,077 Kyrgyz citizens in Russian prisons in January but did not say how many are women, making it hard to estimate how many imprisoned Kyrgyz women migrants have gone to Ukraine to aid in the war effort.
Kyrgyz authorities have urged their citizens to avoid taking part in military activities abroad as it violates the country's criminal code. Citizens found guilty can face up to 10 years in prison.
Two men were arrested in recent months in Kyrgyzstan -- and one given a prison sentence -- for fighting as mercenaries in Ukraine.
