Lured by Higher Salaries, Migrants From Post-Soviet Asian Countries Work in Occupied Eastern Ukraine

From post-Soviet republics Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, Russia is attracting workers to occupied territories in eastern and southern Ukraine. But contrary to what they’re led to believe, they’re not only sent to rebuild destroyed buildings, but also forced to serve on the front line of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainska Pravda reported. 

Though Russia’s allocated $23 billion for reconstruction projects in occupied Ukrainian territories, it often has a deficit of workers, Ukrainska Pravda wrote.

“According to Central Asian media, remittances from labor migrants constitute a significant portion of GDP in Tajikistan – up to 40%; in Uzbekistan – over 20%; and in Kyrgyzstan – also over 20%. As such, these countries’ leaders support citizens who decide to work abroad,” the newspaper reported. 

Recruitment agencies hired by occupation authorities target Central Asia where there are fewer economic opportunities, the article says. 

Employees can earn more than they would otherwise be able to back at home in Russia, working in construction, hospitality and agriculture. 

But when migrants make it to the occupied territories, they are often denied basic human rights and forced to sign military contracts that get them sent to the front lines of Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

“To our great regret, we have evidence that labor migrants from Uzbekistan in Russia are being lured to the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, allegedly for construction and the restoration of destroyed houses, only to have their documents taken away and be sent to the front,” Ukraine’s ambassador in Uzbekistan Mykola Doroshenko told Ukrayinska Pravda. “I have passed this information to the Uzbek side and asked the country’s authorities to warn their citizens against such actions.”

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In the event that they’re mobilized, these migrants may then also face jailtime in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, as the country’s legislation bans them from participating in foreign military conflicts.