Adil Muhammad, a Somali, sits in a Russian military uniform among other prisoners of war (POWs) in a press conference in Ukraine’s capital in mid-March.

The former infantryman was captured in combat near Marinka in Donetsk Oblast while fighting with the Russian army in Ukraine in early 2024, five months after he came to Moscow on a tourist visa to work and only four days after being deployed to the front lines.

Three months into working for $140 a month at a clothing factory, Muhammad saw a billboard with a Russian army advertisement. He described the one-year military contract terms as a “dream” — a $2,000 monthly salary, 14 times higher than back home, army service inside Russia, and Russian citizenship.

Muhammad and seven other POWs prisoners of war, including five Nepalis, a Cuban, and a Sierra-Leonian, say they came to Russia seeking an escape from poverty. They also say they were tricked into fighting for Russia on the front lines in Ukraine.