Russia is tricking Yemeni men into fighting in Ukraine under Houthi plan: report

Russia is recruiting hundreds of Yemeni men to fight in its war in Ukraine by luring them to Russia under false pretenses in collaboration with the Houthi terrorist network, the Financial Times reports.

Yemeni workers who were transported to Russia under a “people-smuggling mission” were initially told that they would receive high-paying jobs and Russian citizenship.

However, after arriving with the help of a Houthi-linked company, many have apparently been forced into the Russian war, forced to sign combat contracts at gunpoint and sent to the front lines in Ukraine.

RUSSIA COLLECTS HOUTHIS WITH SATELLITE DATA TO ATTACK SHIPS IN RED SEA: REPORT

Fox News Digital could not immediately reach the US State Department or Ukraine’s Defense Ministry for comment on Russia’s increased use of foreign fighters to aid its war machine in Ukraine.

It is not clear whether any of the Yemeni men are Houthi terrorists or how many have been sent to fight in Ukraine, although a report in the Financial Times on Sunday revealed that recruitment is believed to have started in July. At least 200 Yemeni men were reportedly part of one group that was forcibly conscripted into the Russian army in September – most of whom had not been trained before being sent to Ukraine to fight.

A video posted by a London-based news agency shows at least five Yemeni men, four in the video and the cameraman, describing their dire situation and noting that one of the detainees tried to kill himself but was rushed to hospital before being taken to hospital. he was returned to service one day later.

“Now we are being bombed,” said a man with a camera, expressing his exhaustion and showing a group of men breaking through the Ukrainian forest. “Mines, drones, mining houses, we carry timber.”

American diplomats told the press that the coordinated plan between the Houthis and Russia shows how willing Moscow is to strengthen its forces amid high casualties.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry on Monday assessed that Russia had seen more than 730,000 casualties in the three-year war, although a US assessment in early October suggested the figure was closer to 600,000, including 115,000 dead and around 100,000 wounded. -500,000.

Ukrainian soldiers fire at the front line towards the city of Ugledar, Donetsk, Ukraine, as the Russian-Ukrainian war continues on April 18, 2023. (Photo by Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

UKRAINE TO ANALYZE CONFIRMATIONS OF RUSSIA-FIRED NUCLEAR WARDS

Although the Financial Times report suggests that there may be hundreds, if not more, of Yemeni men being forced to fight in Ukraine, it is not only foreign fighters who are being drawn into the Russian war.

North Korea has sent up to 12,000 troops to help Russia, and reports earlier this year suggested that men from India and Nepal were falsely lured to fight for Moscow, and promised lucrative jobs before being sent to fight in Ukraine.

It is unclear how many Indian men have been drafted into the Russian military, although a Time report in August said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi apparently raised the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Moscow in July. Modi is said to have been assured that Russia will do everything possible to bring back all Indian mercenaries, although the status of that agreement is still unclear.

CNN similarly reported earlier this year that as many as 15,000 men from Nepal have also been recruited to fight for Russia – a trend that shows Russia has targeted poor countries to lure fighters into their ranks.

Russia has been strengthening its relations with Iran, and by extension, Iranian militias such as the Houthis, since Putin launched his “special military operation” in Ukraine in 2022.

Protesters, mostly Houthi supporters, raise weapons as they gather to show support for the Palestinians and Lebanon’s Hezbollah in Sanaa, Yemen, Nov. 8, 2024. (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah)

CLICK HERE FOR THE NEWS PROGRAM

It is unclear what, if anything, Russia has promised the Houthis in exchange for their help in Moscow’s latest recruitment drive, and security officials have not confirmed any arms sales from Russia to the terrorist network.

However, Russia is known to have helped the group by providing target information, which the group uses to attack Western ships in the Red Sea.

The Houthis have also sent at least two envoys to Russia this year to meet with top Kremlin officials.