Peruvian POW's Brother Confirms He Was Lured to Russia With a Fake Job Offer

Américo Valdivia Teco, a Peruvian national held as a prisoner of war after surrendering from Russia's army, was recruited to Russia with a false job offer, according to his brother, who gave a video testimony to Ukraine's "I Want to Find" project - which works to confirm the fate of missing Russian-army personnel for their families.

His brother, Ilton Valdivia Teco, gave the following testimony which was published by the "I Want to Find" on Telegram:

The transctipt of Ilton's statement is available below: 

Hello, gentlemen of Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and the "I Want to Find" project. This is Ilton Valdivia Teco, national ID 47219987, brother of Américo Valdivia Teco, national ID 42055637, born October 18, 1983, Peruvian, currently a prisoner of war in Ukraine, who published his testimony on the United24 channel on July 1, 2026.

At your request, today, September 4, 2026, I can say that my brother was taken to Russia with false job promises. He wasn't the only one - other compatriots later turned out to have suffered the same fate, along with other Latin Americans: Bolivians, Colombians, Uruguayans, Argentines, and others. That's why a similar situation became public in Peru.

Once in Russia, they signed contracts with the Russian army, written in Russian, which they didn't understand. They were then taken to the conflict zones of Kharkiv, Luhansk, and Donetsk. We had no news of him for months, from around April 2026, until, thanks to his publication with the prisoner-of-war project on its official channel, I was able to find his testimony. All those publications gave us hope that we could embrace him again.

Once I learned of my brother's situation through the official channels - both United24 and their Telegram pages - I went to Peru's foreign ministry here in Lima so they could carry out immediate diplomatic efforts to locate him, determine his current status, and arrange his safe, direct repatriation to Peru. I've also filed his case with the Ombudsman's Office and with the International Committee of the Red Cross. I've filed a police complaint with Peru's National Police for human trafficking, since he was recruited through lies and taken to Russia and then to the conflict zone.

He is not an enemy, gentlemen. He is not a soldier who wanted to go to war - he was deceived against his will and taken into the conflict. And as soon as he could, he voluntarily surrendered to the Ukrainian army because he didn't want to hurt anyone. My brother Américo is a man of peace. He is a man of peace, gentlemen.

That's why I'm also speaking to the men, the fathers, the brothers, the young Latin American men out there: don't let yourselves be fooled by false job promises abroad, with no known companies, no legal contracts, without being properly informed. Don't let desperation carry you away, because it's only a lie, gentlemen, and it's not a legal job offer. It's a path to certain death, to captivity.

Other Details

In its own accompanying post, the "I Want to Find" project filled in details from Américo's case file: he believed he was signing with a recruiting company and had planned to travel to Russia for work alongside a colleague. On arrival in Moscow, he and a group of citizens from Bolivia, Colombia, Uruguay, and Argentina were met by recruiters, who had them sign Russian-language documents presented as "standard contracts" - in reality, contracts with Russia's Ministry of Defense. Once signed, the men were sent straight to the conflict zone. Américo has described what followed as some of the most inhuman events he has witnessed in his life. He has a wife and three minor children in Peru who, per the project, ask about him every day; through "I Want to Find," his family has now received confirmation that he is a prisoner of war and that he is detained in safe conditions in full accordance with the Geneva Conventions.

If Your Relative Went to Russia and Went Quiet

Families searching for a relative who traveled to Russia for work, and have since lost contact, can file a search request through the "I Want to Find" project's Telegram bot or the project's bot in Viber. These are the channels that helped confirm Américo's case for his brother. Our own FAQ on what to do if you've lost contact with a relative in Russia covers the same steps in more detail.