Russia Sending Migrants, Asylum Seekers, Convicts To Fight In Ukraine UN Expert

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) She made the statement in an interview with Ukrinform.

According to her, Russia's war is imperialist in nature, and the most vulnerable groups of the population are being drawn into it using the most brutal methods. In particular, mobilization has hit small indigenous communities especially hard.

Katzarova noted that in Moscow and St. Petersburg, mobilization was carried out mainly online and by relatively less coercive methods. In remote villages in Siberia, however, since the start of the full-scale war, Interior Ministry officials have arrived in buses, gone from house to house, forcibly taken men away and sent them to fight thousands of kilometers from home.

"Some indigenous peoples live in northern Siberia, and an entire nation can consist of just four villages," the rapporteur said.

She cited the Selkup people, an indigenous group living near Tomsk with a population of only around 3,000-3,500, as well as the Udege people.

"When they lose even two or three men through disproportionate mobilization, often carried out against their will, the consequences are devastating. Some of these indigenous nations are already facing the threat of extinction," Katzarova said.

The rapporteur has also documented cases of prisoners being recruited into the Russian army, including people convicted of particularly serious crimes. She also reported the pardon of a cannibal who had killed 14 people and eaten parts of their bodies before signing a military contract.

Katzarova noted that some Russian soldiers commit violent crimes against women and children after returning from the war but avoid accountability.

"Investigations and criminal proceedings against them are suspended if they sign another contract and return to fight in Ukraine. Some have done this several times, creating a kind of revolving door," she said.

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The rapporteur also drew attention to the recruitment of foreign nationals. According to her, migrants, particularly from Central Asian countries, as well as asylum seekers from other countries, are often coerced into signing contracts to take part in the war against Ukraine.

Foreign nationals are also recruited into the Russian army through human trafficking networks operating in African, Latin American and Asian countries, including Sri Lanka and Nepal. Men are promised construction jobs or other civilian employment, but after arriving in Russia, they are subjected to ill-treatment and torture and then forced to sign military contracts.

Katzarova stressed that the war against Ukraine has had a negative impact on virtually every sphere of Russian society.

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