(Kanymgul Elkeeva and Aigerim Berdibaeva – RFE/RL) Dilbar has languished in pretrial detention for months in the Russian city of Omsk, where she said she was beaten, shocked with a taser, and threatened by prison officers. As she awaits trial on drug-smuggling charges, the 18-year-old Central Asian migrant has been given a stark choice: Go to prison for up to 15 years or join Russia’s war effort in Ukraine and gain her freedom. The case of Dilbar has put the spotlight on Russia’s recruitment of Central Asian women for its nearly four-year war in Ukraine. Russia hosts millions of migrant workers from the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. Thousands of men from Central Asia are believed to have joined Russian forces in Ukraine. Some were lured by offers of lucrative jobs. Others, mainly convicts and detainees, have been forced to join the Russian military. A small number of Central Asian women have also enlisted, although their exact number is unknown.
How Russia Is Recruiting Central Asian Women For Its War In Ukraine
