The information that Russia is trying to recruit the former elite soldiers comes from three former Afghan generals, whom the AP news agency interviewed.
They testify that Russia – with promises of a monthly salary of $1,500 and sanctuary for the soldiers and their families – is trying to form a force made up of foreign soldiers.
The soldiers fled Afghanistan to neighboring Iran in connection with the withdrawal of US forces last year. Now they do not dare to return to their homeland out of concern for the Taliban rule.
The recruitment takes place via the infamous Moscow-backed mercenary force Wagner group, states the former general Abdul Raof Arghandiwal.
“They don’t want to go and fight – but they have no choice,” says Abdul Raof Arghandiwal.
How many soldiers have been courted by the Russians is unclear, but one of them says that in a WhatsApp group he is a member of, there are around 400 former elite soldiers who are considering offers.
“We didn’t get these individuals out as we had promised,” says former CIA officer Michael Mulroy, who fought in Afghanistan, adding that the soldiers in question are skilled and violent.
— I would honestly not like to see them on any battlefield, but above all not fighting against the Ukrainians.
Neither the Russian nor the US Department of Defense wants to comment on the data.