Three men from the Dominican Republic have pleaded for assistance from their government after claiming they were misled into joining the Russian army and subsequently sent to the front lines in the ongoing war with Ukraine. In a video shared on social media last week, the men stated they were promised job opportunities but instead found themselves conscripted into military service.
“We were deceived,” one of the men asserted in the video. “Contrary to what is being said, we came here knowing what we were getting into. That’s a lie. We were brought here under an employment contract – to work.”
Dominican law requires citizens to obtain government approval before joining foreign armed forces, and doing so without consent can result in the loss of citizenship. The men have not disclosed when they arrived in Russia, their prior training, or the specific roles they expected to fill.
Describing their harrowing experiences, one soldier said their treatment had been akin to that of “slaves,” highlighting the perilous conditions they face amid drone attacks. “When those people send us to the front, there are drones that show no mercy to anyone,” he noted. “When one of them crashes into you – boom! It blows you to bits, shredding you into tiny, bite-sized pieces.”
According to the men, very few soldiers survive their missions, with one claiming that only two out of every 100 return alive. In their video, they mentioned that other foreign nationals, including fighters from Peru, Panama, and India, have successfully been repatriated from Russia.
The Ministry of Foreign Relations in Panama reported coordinating the return of 17 citizens, including 11 who fought for Russia, while Peru facilitated the return of 50 nationals, some of whom had escaped a Russian training center. The Indian government has also managed to extract 139 citizens who had gone to Russia to enlist.
The men have reached out specifically to Dominican President Luis Abinader, urging him to take similar action for their repatriation. “The only ones who don’t have the benefit of people having mercy on us are us – the Dominicans,” one soldier implored.
In response to the situation, Dominican Foreign Relations Minister Víctor Ito Bisonó confirmed a meeting with Alexey Seredin, the Russian ambassador to the Dominican Republic. During this discussion, he revealed that 30 Dominicans had signed contracts to engage in the conflict. Bisonó stated that the government has instructed its ambassador in Russia to seek legal counsel to explore potential solutions under the laws governing the individual contracts.
Local authorities have noted that at least 13 young men in La Romana were reportedly approached through social media with deceptive job offers, such as positions as cooks or mechanics, in Russia. Carlos de Pérez, a representative for La Romana, indicated that these individuals are already under Russian control, undergoing preparations to be sent to the battlefield.
