 "Ukrainian servicemen carry a bag containing the body of a Ukrainian soldier as one of them, right, carries the remains of a body of a Russian soldier in a retaken area near the border with Russia in the Kharkiv region if Ukraine. (Photo: AP)")
Jordan has asked Russia to stop illegally recruiting its citizens to fight in the Ukraine war after two of the country’s men died on the battlefield.
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday issued a warning against Russia and other foreign “entities” hiring its citizens online on behalf of Moscow.
In a statement posted on X, Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said it would “take all available measures” to halt the continued recruitment of Jordanians and urged Moscow to cancel the contracts of those already serving.
It added that such recruitment violates Jordanian law as well as international law and “endangers the lives of [its] citizens”.
Ukraine claims that Russia has enlisted more than 18,000 foreign fighters from 128 countries, based on data provided by Brigadier General Dmytro Usov. He added in a Telegram post that an additional 3,388 foreign fighters have been killed while serving for Moscow.
Earlier this month, South Africa said it would probe how its citizens ended up as mercenaries in the Russia-Ukraine war after the men sent a distress call, urging the government to bring them back home.
The South African government said in a statement that as many as 17 men were lured into fighting in the war on the pretext of lucrative jobs. This phenomenon is not new to India, as several men continue to remain trapped in Ukraine as a result of being duped by Russian agents.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said it has raised the issue of Indian nationals being recruited into the Russian army and urged Moscow to stop the practice amid the ongoing war with Ukraine.
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View AllMEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the government has repeatedly warned citizens about the “risks and dangers” of joining the Russian military.