Russian forces are thought to have recruited mercenaries from across the Middle East to fight in Ukraine. [Getty]
A Yemeni man was recently killed while fighting alongside the Russian army in Ukraine, amid concerns over recruitment networks luring Yemeni youths into combat by exploiting their difficult living conditions and desire to migrate.
Family members of Hamza Mahmoud Al-Habashi said on Wednesday that he had been killed while fighting with Russian forces.
Al-Habashi grew up in Dhale Governorate in central Yemen and left the country for Russia about two-and-a-half years ago, sources close to the family told The New Arab.
He wanted to travel to Europe in search of work, but was misled into signing a contract to fight in the Russian military. Recruiters from Egypt persuaded him over seven months to sign a contract for a job he thought involved providing security for commercial property, the sources said.
Several Yemenis have previously been reported killed in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, most of whom were students living in Russia who were recruited to fight for its forces. Others were reportedly brought from Yemen through recruitment companies reportedly led by Abdul Wali Al-Jabri, a figure affiliated with Yemen’s rebel Houthi movement.
Last August, another young man, Issam Ali al-Mashouli, was killed while fighting in Ukraine. Al-Mashouli had been a Yemeni soldier stationed on the Saudi border before being recruited by Houthi officials to fight on behalf of Russian forces.
In June 2024, former Yemeni diplomat Ahmed Al-Sahmi was killed while fighting in the ranks of the Russian army in Ukraine. He had worked as a diplomat at Yemen’s embassy in Moscow until 2017, before marrying a Russian woman, obtaining Russian citizenship, and contracting with a Russian military company.
Human rights and media reports had previously spoken about the transfer and recruitment of Yemenis to fight in Ukraine alongside Russian forces through misleading contracts and fake employment companies, amid economic deterioration and widespread unemployment pushing many Yemeni youths to risk irregular migration and unofficial work.
These incidents come as Yemen continues to suffer worsening humanitarian and economic conditions triggered by the outbreak of war more than a decade ago. The crisis has seen a rise in human trafficking and illegal recruitment networks that exploit people wanting to migrate or find work abroad.
