‘We were deceived’: How a woman entices foreign men to battle on Russia’s front line

Flames dance around the edges of Omar’s passport. “It’s igniting well,” a voice belonging to an unseen woman states in Russian within the footage.

Omar, a 26-year-old Syrian who works in construction, had been stationed for almost nine months on the front lines of Russia’s conflict in Ukraine when the video was sent to his phone.

He recognized the woman’s voice. It belonged to Polina Alexandrovna Azarnykh, who he claims had assisted him in enlisting to fight for Russia, offering high-paying work and Russian nationality. But now she was furious.

In a series of voice messages from Ukraine, Omar, using a pseudonym to protect himself, recounts how he found himself trapped and fearful in the combat zone.

He mentions that Azarnykh had guaranteed that if he gave her $3,000 (£2,227), she would ensure he remained in a non-combat position. However, he claims he was thrust into battle after only 10 days of training, leading him to refuse payment, prompting her to burn his passport in response.

He alleges he attempted to opt out of a mission, but his commanders threatened him with death or incarceration.

“We were deceived… this woman is a fraudster and a deceiver,” Omar states.

A BBC Eye investigation has traced how Azarnykh, a 40-year-old ex-teacher, utilizes a Telegram channel to entice young men, frequently from impoverished backgrounds, into enlisting in Russia’s military.

The ex-educator’s cheerful video messages and bright posts present “one-year agreements” for “military service”.

The BBC World Service has identified close to 500 occasions where she has issued documents, termed invitations, enabling the recipients to enter Russia to join the military. These have been for men – primarily from Syria, Egypt, and Yemen – who seemingly provided her with their passport information to enlist.

However, recruits and their families have conveyed to the BBC that she misled men into thinking they would evade combat, did not clarify the inability to leave after a year, and threatened those who questioned her. Upon being approached by the BBC, she dismissed the allegations.

Twelve families revealed to us about young men they claim were enlisted by her who are now deceased or unaccounted for.

Domestically, Russia has intensified conscription, hired prisoners, and introduced progressively more attractive sign-up bonuses to sustain its military efforts in Ukraine, despite significant casualties.

Over one million of its troops have been killed or wounded since the full-scale invasion began in 2022, with 25,000 fatalities reported in December 2025 alone, as per NATO.

Research conducted by BBC News Russian, utilizing obituaries and other publicly accessible death records, suggests Russian troop casualties in Ukraine surged more rapidly last year.

Determining the number of foreigners who have joined Russia’s military is challenging. Analysis by BBC Russian – which also examined the number of foreigners killed and injured – indicates at least 20,000 individuals might have enlisted, including from nations like Cuba, Nepal, and North Korea.

Ukraine has also experienced considerable troop losses and has integrated foreign fighters into its forces.

Omar’s initial encounter with Azarnykh occurred when he was stranded with hardly any funds at a Moscow airport in March 2024, accompanied by 14 other Syrians.

Employment in Syria was scarce and poorly compensated. Omar states a recruiter there had proposed civilian work guarding oil plants in Russia. They travelled to Moscow, only to find they had been duped.

While searching online for alternatives, Omar mentions one of the group discovered Azarnykh’s channel and contacted her.

She met them at the airport within hours and took them by train to a recruitment center in Bryansk, western Russia, he recounts.

There, he claims, she offered them one-year contracts with the Russian army, with a monthly salary approximating $2,500 (£1,856), and a sign-up payment of $5,000 (£3,711) – amounts they could only fantasize about in Syria.

Omar asserts that the contracts were in Russian, a language none of the men understood, and she confiscated their passports, assuring them she would facilitate Russian citizenship. She also indicated they could steer clear of combat roles if they each paid her $3,000 (£2,227) from their sign-up fees, he states.

However, he claims that within a month, he found himself on the front lines with only 10 days of training and no prior military experience.

“We’re definitely going to die here,” he expresses in one of his voice messages, sent to a BBC investigative team.

“Many injuries, numerous explosions, a lot of shelling. If you don’t perish from the blast, you’ll be killed by the debris falling on you,” he informs in May 2024.

“Corpses everywhere… I’ve walked on dead bodies, forgive me, God,” he says the following month.

“When someone dies, I’ve witnessed it firsthand, they place them in a garbage bag and dispose of them beside a tree,” he remarks.

After nearly a year, he uncovered what he states Azarnykh had omitted to explain – a decree from 2022 permits the military to automatically extend soldiers’ contracts until the war concludes.

“If they renew the contract, I’m doomed – oh God,” he laments.

His contract was indeed extended.

Azarnykh’s Telegram channel boasts 21,000 subscribers. Her posts have frequently instructed readers wishing to apply to join the Russian military to send her a scan of their passport. She subsequently dispatched invitation documents, sometimes including a list of names of the individuals they were meant for.

The BBC has pinpointed over 490 such invitations that she has dispatched over the last year to men from countries including Yemen, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Iraq, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria.

Her communications have referenced recruitment for an “elite international battalion” and clarified that individuals in Russia illegally – including those with expired visas – can apply.

Outside the UK, watch the film on YouTube.

We have interviewed eight foreign fighters including Omar who were enlisted by her, as well as the families of the 12 men who are dead or missing.

Many felt Azarnykh had deceived or exploited the recruits. They informed us that the men understood they were joining the military, but did not anticipate serving on the front line. Several, including Omar, felt they had insufficient training or believed they would be able to depart after a year.

In Egypt, Yousef – whose name we have also altered – informed the BBC that his older brother Mohammed had commenced a university program in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2022.

However, he struggled to cover his tuition, Yousef claims, and reported to his family that a Russian woman named Polina had started offering him assistance online, including employment with the Russian military that he believed would allow him to continue his studies.

“She assured him of housing and citizenship… monthly expenses,” he states. “Suddenly he was dispatched to Ukraine. He found himself in combat,” Yousef says.

His final communication was on 24 January 2024, according to Yousef. About a year later, he received a message on Telegram from a Russian number, containing photos of Mohammed’s remains. The family ultimately learned he had been killed nearly a year earlier.

Azarnykh has become “one of the most significant recruiters” for Russia’s military, states Habib, another Syrian who has served in the Russian armed forces. He agreed to be filmed but spoke under a pseudonym due to fear of repercussions.

Habib asserts he and Azarnykh “collaborated for approximately three years on visa invitations to Russia.” He provided no additional details, and we have not been able to verify his involvement in the process. An image from social media in 2024 shows him alongside her.

Azarnykh, originally from Russia’s southwestern Voronezh region, managed a Facebook group that aided Arab students in coming to Moscow for studies before launching her Telegram channel in 2024.

Habib explains that most foreign recruits arrived with the expectation of roles securing facilities or monitoring checkpoints. “The Arabs who come are dying quickly. Some individuals lost their sanity – witnessing dead bodies is tough,” he states.

Habib mentions he met Omar and the group of Syrians at a military training facility. “She had promised them nationality, good pay, and safety,” Habib recounts. “But once you sign a contract here, leaving is impossible.”

“None of them knew how to handle a weapon. Even when under fire, they chose not to return fire… if you don’t shoot, you will be killed,” he adds. “Polina took the men, aware they were likely to die.”

He claims she “received $300 (£223) from the military for every individual she recruited”. The BBC could not verify this, though other recruits also indicated they believed she was compensated.

Azarnykh’s posts from mid-2024 began to indicate that recruits would be “involved in hostilities” and referenced foreign fighters who had perished in combat.

“You all understood well that you were heading to war,” she states in one video from October 2024. “You thought you could secure a Russian passport, do nothing, and enjoy a five-star hotel?… Nothing is ever free.”

In another instance in 2024, the BBC received a voice message from Azarnykh directed to a mother whose son was serving in the military. Azarnykh warns that the woman has “published something terrible about the Russian army”. Using vulgar language, she threatens the son’s life and cautions the woman: “I’ll track you down along with all your children.”

The BBC made several attempts to reach out to Azarnykh. Initially, she suggested she would agree to an interview if we traveled to Russia, a proposal the BBC declined for safety reasons. Later, when questioned during a voice call regarding claims that recruits were promised non-combat roles, she hung up. In subsequent voice messages, she criticized our efforts as “unprofessional” and warned of potential legal action for defamation. She further stated: “Our esteemed Arabs can shove their accusations where the sun doesn’t shine.”

The BBC reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence for comments but received no reply.

Previously, in March 2022, President Putin supported the recruitment of individuals from the Middle East, asserting they were motivated ideologically rather than financially: “There are individuals eager to volunteer, especially not for monetary reasons, and assist others.”

Journalists and researchers investigating this matter indicate that individuals like Azarnykh are part of an intricate network of informal recruiters.

The BBC has discovered two other Arabic Telegram accounts making comparable offers for enlistment in Russia’s military. One features posts displaying invitation documents and names, while the other promotes substantial sign-up bonuses for joining an “elite battalion”.

In September, Kenyan authorities reported they had dismantled an alleged “trafficking syndicate” accused of enticing Kenyans with job proposals but actually sending them to combat in Ukraine.

Kateryna Stepanenko, a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of War, informed the BBC that some municipal and regional officials in Russia have been providing cash incentives up to $4,000 (£2,970) to individuals such as HR specialists and local citizens who recruit Russians or foreigners into military service.

She explains that initially, the Kremlin relied on larger entities like the Wagner private military group and the prison system for recruitment, but since 2024 has also been “utilizing locals and smaller companies”.

This “indicates to me that prior recruitment methods are no longer generating the same volume of recruits,” she adds.

Meanwhile, Habib has returned to Syria after claiming he bribed multiple commanders to terminate his engagement. Omar ultimately acquired Russian citizenship and has also managed to get back to Syria. Two of the Syrians he served alongside have died, as per their families.

Azarnykh “views us as mere numbers or revenue – she doesn’t see us as human beings,” he states. “We won’t forgive her for what she did to us.”

Additional reporting by Olga Ivshina, Gehad Abbas, Ali Ibrahim, Victoria Arakelyan, and Rayan Maarouf