'EXPENDABLE': New Photo Exhibition Shows Faces of the Foreign Recruits Russia Throws Into Its War

A documentary photo exhibition called "EXPENDABLE" was presented for the first time at the "Crimea Global. Understanding Ukraine through the South" conference, the same event where Ukraine announced that 45,959 foreigners from 151 countries have signed contracts with the Russian army. The statistics give the scale. The exhibition shows the faces behind: portraits of foreign citizens who fought for Russia and ended up as Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Lives Treated as Expendable Material

Russia has turned the recruitment of foreign citizens into a global system for supplying manpower to its war against Ukraine. People from different continents are drawn in with promises, deception, and financial incentives, while their lives become expendable material for the Russian war machine which is reflected in the exhibition's title.

Why They Agreed to Be Photographed

The goal of the exhibition is to expose how Russian predatory recruitment works, draw international attention to it, and warn potential recruits against joining the ranks of Russia's armed forces. All of the men in the portraits gave informed consent and took part voluntarily. For them the project is a chance to tell their stories in their own words, to draw attention to their situation, and to express the hope of being exchanged.

That hope has so far gone unanswered. To date, Russia has not taken back a single foreigner in a prisoner exchange procedure.

The exhibition's concept and photography are by Tara Kurushkina.