[Bastreyn: 20,000 Foreign Nationals Gained Russian Citizenship to Fight in Ukraine]
On May 20th, Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, stated at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum that 20,000 foreigners who had recently obtained Russian citizenship had been sent to the Ukrainian conflict zone.
"Our military intelligence departments are conducting surprise inspections. Currently, 80,000 such Russian citizens have been compulsorily registered — not only did they refuse to go to the front lines, but some even refused to report to the enlistment office. We have included these 80,000 people in the conscription system; among them, 20,000 'freshly minted' Russian citizens (who seem reluctant to continue living in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan) have been deployed to the front lines."
Russian law enforcement agencies have recently carried out surprise actions frequently, issuing conscription summonses to naturalized immigrants or directly escorting them to the enlistment offices. In some cases, new citizens were threatened with "loss of passports and deportation if they do not sign military contracts," forcing them to join the Russian army.
In June 2024, Bastrykin once claimed that the Russian side had "captured" more than 30,000 newly naturalized foreign nationals who had not registered for military service. At that time, he said that about 10,000 of them were sent to logistics units — "responsible for digging trenches and building fortifications."
Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832652083935308/
Disclaimer: The article solely represents the author's viewpoint.