Jordan demands Russia stop recruiting citizens after two killed in fighting

After two Jordanians were killed while fighting in the Russian military, Jordan has pressed the Russian government to stop illegally recruiting its citizens.

On Thursday, the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a warning to Moscow and other “entities” who work online to recruit people for Moscow.

The ministry made no mention of Russia’s nearly four-year-old conflict with Ukraine, where thousands of paid foreign fighters have joined Moscow’s side.

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry stated in a statement posted on X that it would “take all available measures” to stop Jordanians from furthering their recruitment and that Moscow should void its current enlisted citizens’ contracts.

According to the ministry, the recruitment “endangers the lives of]its] citizens” and violates both Jordanian domestic and international law.

Although Russia has a history of attracting foreigners to fight in Ukraine, the statement did not provide any further identifying information or specify when or where the two citizens were killed.

According to Brigadier General Dmytro Usov, the Ukraine claims that Moscow has recruited at least 18, 000 foreign fighters from 128 nations. He claimed that 3 388 foreigners have died fighting for Russia in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

The majority of the foreign soldiers fighting for Russia in Ukraine were likely from North Korea, Usov did not provide a breakdown of the soldiers.

According to Western officials, Pyongyang sent between 14 000 and 15 000 soldiers to Russia’s defense in 2024, according to the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations.

According to Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha, Moscow has also recruited at least 1,400 Africans from more than 30 nations using various methods ranging from deception to duress.

According to Sybiha, signing a contract with the Russian military “equivalent to signing a death sentence” for foreign recruits.

“The Russian army’s foreigners are facing a depressing fate. In a post on X on November 9, Sybiha said that the majority of them are immediately sent to the so-called “meat assaults,” where they are quickly killed.