Key facts
- Russia plans to recruit at least 27 Yemeni citizens for its war against Ukraine, according to Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service.
- Some Yemeni nationals targeted for recruitment were born in 2006 and 2007.
- Russia has been recruiting foreign fighters from countries including Nepal, Somalia, India, and Cuba since its full-scale invasion in 2022.
- Yemeni nationals are being legalized in Russia through a simplified procedure before being recruited for military service.
- North Korea remains the largest contributor of foreign troops to Russia's war effort, having deployed 12,000 troops in 2025.
Russia plans to recruit at least 27 Yemeni citizens for its full-scale war against Ukraine, Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service said on Sept. 19, 2026. Some of the Yemeni nationals being recruited were born in 2006 and 2007, according to the agency.
Moscow has been recruiting foreign fighters from countries such as Nepal, Somalia, India, and Cuba since the start of its full-scale invasion in 2022. The full extent of these recruitment efforts cannot be independently verified.
In July, the head of a military recruitment office in Russia's Siberian city of Khanty-Mansiysk asked the border guard to legalize Yemeni nationals in Russia, the agency said. The Russian authorities then allegedly planned to sign military contracts with them. The Yemeni nationals are being legalized under a decree by Russian President Vladimir Putin on a temporary procedure for granting citizenship and residence permits. According to the agency, they are first legalized in Russia through a simplified procedure and then recruited for military service.
Reports that Russia was recruiting "hundreds" of Yemeni mercenaries to fight in Ukraine emerged in 2024. North Korea remains the largest contributor of foreign troops to Russia's war effort, having previously deployed 12,000 troops to aid in a Russian-led counteroffensive in Kursk Oblast in 2025.