Ukraine says it has taken an Indonesian prisoner of war for the first time, as a Ukrainian government initiative reports a sharp increase in the number of Indonesians recruited to fight for Russia. The announcement comes amid Indonesian concerns about citizens being drawn into Russian military service through recruitment practices that could involve human trafficking.
The prisoner is a 49-year-old man from Java, according to Ukraine’s state-run I Want to Live project. It said he had been sent to the Zaporizhzhia region to participate in a Russian assault. After his group came under attack from drones, he reached territory controlled by Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces captured him.
The project reported that about 283 Indonesians were recruited to fight for Russia against Ukraine during the first nine months of 2026. By comparison, it put recruitment from Indonesia at no more than 10 people over the preceding three years. The Russian embassy in Jakarta did not immediately answer questions about the alleged recruitment campaign.
Earlier in November, Jakarta called on Moscow to prevent Indonesians from being enlisted in its armed forces. That request followed reports that an Indonesian national serving with the Russian military had died in October. Foreign ministry spokesperson Yvonne Mewengkang said Indonesia had asked Russia to take all necessary measures to stop its citizens being recruited into either military service or other military-related roles through any route.
Mewengkang also highlighted Indonesia’s particular concern about recruitment methods that could amount to human trafficking. Days after the government’s appeal, Indonesian police said they had identified a trafficking syndicate that targeted Indonesian nationals through social media and messaging applications.
According to police, recruitment posts advertised lucrative work in logistics, border security and defence construction. Applicants who travelled to Russia were then directed to sign contracts to become mercenaries. Some were subsequently sent to conflict zones, police said.
The reported Indonesian recruitment is part of a wider pattern involving foreign nationals as Russia seeks personnel to sustain its war, now more than four years after its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In February, Kenyan intelligence services reported that more than 1,000 Kenyans had been lured into fighting for Russia. Growing numbers of people from Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and other countries have been drawn to the frontline.
Ukraine’s coordination headquarters for prisoners of war established I Want to Live in September 2022, with support from the Ukrainian defence ministry and defence intelligence agency, HUR. The initiative provides a way for active-duty troops, including Russian servicemen and foreign recruits in Russia’s military, to surrender safely and leave the battlefield.
