Ukraine’s I Want to Live project said Ukrainian officials counted 283 Indonesians recruited for Russian forces from January through September 2026, a sharp rise as Jakarta seeks to stop the recruitment.
The project compared the nine-month figure with no more than 10 Indonesians in the previous three years. It said the tally came from Ukrainian officials and may change.
The project also described a 49-year-old man from Java as Ukraine’s first reported Indonesian prisoner of war. It said he had been sent to join an assault in Zaporizhzhia and reached Ukrainian-held territory after a drone strike hit his unit.
Jakarta has asked Moscow to halt the recruitment of Indonesians in a previous appeal to Russia. On Nov. 1, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yvonne Mewengkang said Indonesia had urged Russia to prevent recruitment into military or related roles. She cited concern that some practices could amount to human trafficking.
Indonesian police said some people who traveled to Russia were told to sign fighter contracts, and some later ended up in areas of fighting. Police said they had identified a trafficking syndicate that used social media and messaging platforms to advertise civilian jobs in logistics, border security and defense construction.
