Ukraine’s state-run "I Want to Live" project has published a list of 661 Kazakhstani citizens who are or were fighting against Ukraine on Russia’s side. According to the report, 78 of them have been confirmed killed. The project’s authors emphasize that these figures only include soldiers for whom precise information on the date of death and burial location is available.
The list includes names, birth years, contract signing dates, dog tag numbers, and dates of death. The project obtained this data from its "contacts" within the Russian military command. Based on statistics, the average lifespan of a mercenary from contract signing to death is 130 days, with the shortest recorded period being just nine days.
"If Russians don’t value their own soldiers, what can be said about ‘non-Russians,’ whom they are used to humiliating in peacetime? Traveling halfway across the world, lured by promises of huge payouts or a Russian passport, only to be sent by a Russian butcher-commander to storm the same Ukrainian tree line over and over again—is, to put it mildly, foolish," the project’s authors wrote.
"I Want to Live" also reminds that mercenary activity is a criminal offense in Kazakhstan:
"Those who are lucky enough to survive in the Russian army risk facing prison terms of 12 to 17 years with property confiscation upon returning home."
Since the start of its full-scale invasion, Russia has been actively recruiting foreigners to fight against Ukraine. The idea to enlist mercenaries was proposed by then-Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, who claimed that Russia had received a large number of applications "from all sorts of volunteers from different countries."
The exact number of foreign fighters in the Russian army remains unknown. In November 2024, Russia’s Interior Ministry reported that since the invasion began, 3,344 foreigners had been granted Russian citizenship for participating in the war.
Additionally, between January and September 2024, there was a sharp rise in work permits issued in Russia to citizens of India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka—many of whom are being recruited to fight in Ukraine.
North Koreans are also reportedly fighting for Russia. According to Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, their first engagement with Ukrainian forces occurred in November.
