Ukraine captures first Indonesian prisoner of war trying to join Russian assault

Ukraine has captured its first Indonesian prisoner of war – a 49-year-old man from the island of Java – as Ukrainian officials report a sharp rise in Russia's recruitment from Indonesia.The man was taken to the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine to join a Russian assault but reached Ukrainian-held territory after his group came under drone attack, where Ukrainian forces captured him, according to Ukraine's state-run I Want to Live project. The project was set up in September 2022 by the coordination headquarters for prisoners of war, with support from Ukraine's defence ministry and defence intelligence (HUR), to let serving troops, including Russians and foreign nationals recruited into the Russian military, surrender safely and leave the battlefield.The project said 283 Indonesians were recruited in the first nine months of this year to fight for Russia, against no more than 10 in the previous three years. The figure comes from Ukrainian officials and may change.The capture follows weeks of claims and denials over Indonesians in Russia’s forces. The claimed to have been tricked into joining the Russian army after being promised construction work, a Guardian report said. The Independent has reached out to the Russian embassy in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta for comment.Ukraine’s foreign intelligence service said in a Telegram post on 27 August that at least eight Indonesian citizens had been recruited into the Russian military. Indonesia’s foreign ministry said in a statement on 31 August that it was verifying the information with several ministries and institutions, and that it would investigate possible fraud, exploitation or recruitment through job offers. It added that anyone found to have joined would risk losing citizenship under a law requiring presidential permission to serve in a foreign military.The Russian embassy in Jakarta said in a statement on Friday 4 September that Ukraine’s claim was a “propaganda-driven disinformation campaign” and that tourist e-visas and migration cards “certainly do not constitute evidence of joining military service”. It said the claim was timed to coincide with President Prabowo Subianto’s attendance at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, in Russia’s far east, and aimed to damage relations between the two countries.Indonesia's foreign ministry asked Moscow this month to make sure no Indonesians were recruited into the Russian military, after the reported death in October of an Indonesian national serving with its forces. Yvonne Mewengkang, the ministry's spokesperson, said Indonesia had asked Russia "to take all necessary steps to ensure that no Indonesians will be recruited into the Russian military or any other military-related position in Russia through any avenues". She said Jakarta was particularly concerned about recruitment practices that could amount to human trafficking.Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters extinguish a fire in car garages following a Russian air attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine (Ukrainian Emergency Service)Days later, Indonesian police said they had identified a human trafficking syndicate that targeted Indonesians through social media and messaging apps. Police said recruitment posts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and other platforms offered work in logistics, border security and defence construction. After the applicants reached Russia, they were told to sign contracts as fighters, and some were sent to conflict zones, police said. Ukraine says Indonesia is one of many countries where Russia has widened its search for fighters. Ukrainian government figures published on 22 October put the number of foreign nationals identified fighting for Russia at 45,959, from 151 countries and unrecognised territories. That compares with 27,407 from 135 countries on 30 March, when nearly half were from Asia. The two figures come from different dates and cannot be combined.Russia has drawn foreign fighters before, and Kenya's intelligence services reported in February that more than 1,000 Kenyans had been lured to fight for Russia.