Bangladeshi POWs: One Was Promised a Grape Orchard. Another Was Promised Italy. All Three Ended Up Signing Russian Military Contracts They Couldn't Read.

Three Bangladeshi men are being detained as prisoners of war in Ukraine after being funnelled through a chain of deceptions into Russia's army. The Daily Star interviewed all three via Zoom with the assistance by Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. 

Rimel Mia: Three Days of Training, Then the Front

Rimel's father, Syed Ali, paid Tk 6 lakh (~$5,400 USD) to a local intermediary known only as "Khan" to send his son to Russia in March 2025 for construction work. The family raised the money through loans and by borrowing against crops. The debt, with interest, remains unpaid.

Rimel underwent roughly a month of training in Dhaka before leaving for what he was told would be scaffolding work. In his first three months in Russia he sent home Tk 1.70 lakh (~$1,550 USD). Then he left his original company and travelled to Moscow.

"He spoke to me for two days," Syed Ali said. "On the third night, he called and said, 'Father, we may not be able to speak for two or three days because there is a problem.' That was 10 or 11 months ago. We heard nothing after that."

Rimel had not told his family he had joined the Russian military. In his interview with The Daily Star, he said he enlisted after losing stable work and running into problems with his legal status. He received three days of military training before being sent to the frontline, where he spent around a month alone in a bunker-like shelter. He surrendered to Ukrainian soldiers on December 8, 2025.

Syed Ali, who said he is physically unable to work and owns no farmland, said he never stopped believing his son was alive. "A parent's heart knows," he said. When his wife Rekha Begum learned Rimel was alive and being held in Ukraine, she broke down in tears.

The family now wants the government to act. "We are poor and uneducated. We do not know whom to approach or what to do," Syed Ali said. "The government knows what can be done."

Sarwar Sumon: The Jobs That Were Never There

Sarwar Sumon, 40, a father of three from Trishal in Mymensingh, left for Russia around a year ago through a recruiting agency in Dhaka's Uttara neighbourhood, expecting to work at a gas-field project. He had been promised a two-year contract. The work ended after roughly five months. The company handed the workers return tickets.

Sarwar's family had spent more than Tk 10 lakh (~$9,100 USD) to send him - money raised by selling a piece of land and borrowing at monthly interest. Unwilling to go home still carrying that debt, Sarwar and other workers began looking for alternative employment inside Russia.

What followed was a series of deceptions, each leading further from any real work. One broker promised jobs at a grape orchard and abandoned the men in a forest. Another offered employment and left them by a roadside. A third broker told Sarwar and Kamrul Hasan - the third Bangladeshi held in Ukraine - that he could get them to Italy for Tk 10 lakh (~$9,100 USD) each. They paid Tk 5 lakh (~$4,500 USD) each upfront, with the remainder to follow on arrival in Italy.

They did not go to Italy.

According to his family, Sarwar and Kamrul ended up in the Russian military instead. Both signed contracts written in Russian. They received roughly 35 days of training and were sent to a forested frontline position. They surrendered to Ukrainian soldiers on May 13.

His mother, Joshna Ara Begum, said: "He was trying to recover the money he had lost going to Russia."

In June, a video emerged on Facebook showing Sarwar in Russian military uniform. More recently, a second video appeared of him describing his experiences in Ukrainian detention. His wife works as a nurse at a private hospital and is struggling to support their three children alone.

Kamrul Hasan: 'I Felt I Had No Option'

Kamrul Hasan, from Laur village in Brahmanbaria's Nabinagar upazila, had worked in Singapore for around 12 years before returning to Bangladesh. On July 17, 2025, he flew to Russia hoping to earn $600 to $700 per month at a construction company. His family spent around Tk 8.5 lakh (~$7,700 USD) - much of it borrowed - to secure the work.

See also: Kamrul Hassan interviewed by United 24 

When that work ended, Kamrul went searching for another job. The same broker who promised him and Sarwar passage to Italy took more money from him first, then delivered him to the Russian military instead. The contracts he was made to sign were written in Russian.

"I did not know they were military contracts," Kamrul told The Daily Star. "I felt I had no option but to sign after paying the broker."

His wife, Nazmin Akter, spoke to him in May during a video call arranged from a Ukrainian detention facility with the help of Swiss journalist Kurt Pelda. 

At home, Kamrul's elderly mother Monowara Begum and six-year-old daughter Tayyiba Noor wait for news. The daughter keeps asking when her father will return.

"The debt is still on our shoulders, and creditors are asking for their money," Nazmin said.

Work in Russia: the Risk

Numerous foreigners are deceived and coerced into military service the day after arriving in Russia for jobs they were promised would be civilian. Others, like Kamrul Hasan, Sarwar Sumon and Rimel Mia, end up on the front line after spending some time in civilian work first. The Russian government treats foreigners entering the country as a potential source for replenishing the ranks depleted by enormous casualties in its war of aggression against Ukraine. Coming to Russia means risking being used as cannon fodder - and not everyone is as lucky to get out alive as these three prisoners of war from Bangladesh.

Source: Daily Star