Bangladesh Minister Confirms in Parliament: Four Bangladeshis Dead After Being Forced to Fight for Russia in Ukraine

Bangladesh's Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury confirmed in Parliament on 9 July 2026 that four Bangladeshi workers have died after being coerced into fighting in Russia's war against Ukraine. Twenty-six others remain in Russia. The government says diplomatic efforts are under way to bring them home.

The four deaths are the first confirmed Bangladeshi fatalities from Russia's military recruitment to be acknowledged at the level of a cabinet minister in Parliament.

What Happened

Thirty Bangladeshi workers left for Russia on 24 April 2026. They were not irregular migrants. They departed through three licensed recruiting agencies - holding licence numbers RL-1455, RL-1428, and RL-2505 - after obtaining the required manpower clearance from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET). Their employment was, on paper, entirely above board.

After they arrived in Russia, the government received credible information that the workers had been coerced into military training and were being prepared for deployment to active combat zones. The Bangladesh Embassy in Moscow was instructed to intervene on 15 June - nearly two months after the workers had left.

By then, four of the thirty were already dead.

The minister told Parliament that diplomatic and administrative efforts were continuing to secure the repatriation of the survivors.

See also: A Dhaka Agency Trafficked 30 Bangladeshis Into Russia's Army - the one mentioned above in this article under license number RL-2505

Why This Case Matters

Most cases documented on this site involve workers who were deceived by informal recruiters, unlicensed agents, or social media contacts. This case is different. These workers used Bangladesh's official overseas employment system. They went through licensed agencies. They had BMET clearance. The process that is supposed to protect Bangladeshi workers abroad failed them entirely - or was actively exploited.

The involvement of licensed agencies with traceable registration numbers means there is a paper trail. Those agencies are known to the government. The question of what they knew, what they were paid, and what they told these thirty workers before they boarded their flights to Russia has not yet been answered publicly.

This is also not the first time Bangladeshis have been caught in Russia's recruitment pipeline. A Bangladeshi man named Kamrul Hasan, who had been promised passage to Europe via Russia, was captured by Ukrainian forces and spoke about his experience as a prisoner of war. His account, along with those of two other foreign POWs, is documented here.

The Pipeline

Thirty workers. Official clearance. Licensed agencies. Four dead within weeks of arrival.

Russia's recruitment pipeline does not distinguish between formal and informal labour migration channels. It uses both. Workers with legitimate employment paperwork are just as vulnerable once they are inside Russia's borders - their documents are confiscated, they are told the contracts they signed are military, and they are threatened with imprisonment or death if they refuse to fight.

For Bangladeshi Workers and Families

Do not accept any job offers in Russia. The documented cases of Bangladeshi nationals lured into the Russia's army reveal a pattern: if you travel to Russia for a job you will end up in their army. If you end up in their army - you will be killed, injured or, if lucky, captured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

If you or your relative travelled to Russia and faced coercion to military service - do not hesitate and take a safe route out offered by "I Want to Live".

Source: Daily Sun