Ukraine Is Holding Iraqi Citizens Captured Fighting for Russia. A Court in Najaf Already Sentenced Their Recruiter to Life.

Ukraine is holding Iraqi nationals captured while fighting with Russian forces and is treating them as prisoners of war rather than mercenaries. The confirmation came from Oleg Gushchyn, Legal Counsellor at Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, speaking to Rudaw on the sidelines of a UN press briefing in New York following an Arria-formula Security Council meeting on the implementation of international humanitarian law in Russia's war against Ukraine.

"Yes, there are Iraqi fighters within the Russian armed forces. Yes, we captured some of them. We treat all of them as POWs. No one is considered a mercenary," Gushchyn said.

He declined to disclose the precise number, citing security considerations and the diplomatic relationship between the two countries. Iraqi officials have been permitted to contact their captured citizens.

See also: Profiles of Iraqi citizens in Ukrainian captivity

The Recruitment Pipeline

The scale of Iraqi involvement is not small. Former Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji has described "hundreds of Iraqis" fighting in the conflict. Ukraine's ambassador to Iraq, Ivan Dovhanich, said Kyiv was working closely with Iraqi authorities to address the recruitment.

Bakr Ali, head of the nonprofit Association of Returned Migrants, put it plainly: "They left their homeland, swept up by the lies of gangs that transport our youth to Russia."

Russia's ambassador to Baghdad, Elbrus Kutrashev, acknowledged the phenomenon while downplaying it: "While such cases do exist, they are individual and numbered, not on a large scale as some try to portray." He added that Russia "did not recruit them - they came voluntarily".

Iraq's Response

Iraq has moved to address the problem through both legislation and prosecution. In February, the government tightened legal and security measures against citizens joining foreign militaries. A court in Najaf has already sentenced one man to life imprisonment for recruiting and trafficking Iraqis to fight for Russia - one of the most severe penalties handed down anywhere in the world for this category of offence.

The Broader Picture

Ukraine is currently holding prisoners of war from 51 countries in total, all housed in a dedicated camp for third-country nationals open to embassy visits. Fighters from 135 nations have been documented inside Russian armed forces. Gushchyn told the briefing that Ukraine has conducted 76 exchanges and returned more than 9,500 Ukrainians from captivity alive.

People who were lured into Russia's army and are looking for a way out can access Ukraine's "I Want to Live" programme - here is how.

Sources: United Nations, Rudaw, Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War