"I was in prison, and then I went to war." How Kyrgyz citizens are being recruited into the Russian army

"I didn't know he went to prison"

Kanibek is 33 years old, a citizen of Kyrgyzstan. In the summer of 2021, he ended up in a Russian prison. The accusation against him, as well as against most of his compatriots in Russian prisons, is Art. 228 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Illegal purchase, storage, transportation, production, processing of narcotic drugs). At the time, Kanibek's relatives did not know that he had gone to prison.
"At that time our brother disappeared in Russia, we had no news about him. He went with a friend from one city to another. We looked for him, but we couldn't find him. Later we found out that he went to prison, that he was accused of dealing with drugs. But we did not believe in his guilt. The brother also said: "They planted drugs on me, I'm not guilty," Kanibeko's younger sister said.
In the summer of 2021, this young man ended up in prison. According to documents available to Radio Azattik, the Central District Court in Chelyabinsk sentenced him to 7.5 years in prison. Kanibek was sent to correctional colony number 6 in the Chelyabinsk region.
"We did everything to transfer my brother to Kyrgyzstan. We started preparing his documentation at the same time he was arrested. A year and a half ago, his extradition documentation was fully prepared and sent to Kyrgyzstan. We waited for their answer every day. My brother asked every time he called. Who knew that he would go to war", says Kanibek's second sister.
A month ago, it became known that Kanibek's request for extradition to his family would be considered in court. According to information published by the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan, his case was supposed to be considered on July 16 of this year.
In Russia, Kanibek worked in a taxi service. He was not yet married. His relatives found out two months ago that he was on the battlefield.
"When we talked, I told him not to go. I don't want to believe that he left of his own free will. He didn't listen, he left. When we saw this footage from the war, we didn't recognize him. The face has darkened and is not the same as before. Of course, the decision was influenced by the fact that he was in prison and then in the war. We still don't understand why he left. We thought he would be transferred to Kyrgyzstan, that he would be with us," says his sister.

"We don't know if he's alive or dead"

This is the last photograph of Kanibek that is in the possession of his younger sister. For obvious reasons, we cannot show people's faces. In this photo, next to Kanybek, you can recognize at least a few Kyrgyz and dozens of people from Central Asia.
Another Kyrgyz serving a sentence in Chelyabinsk told Radio Azatik that he recognized several Kyrgyz men who were in prison with him in the photo.
 The photo was sent by a guy from Uzbekistan who was at war with Kanibek. When Radio Azatikk contacted him, he was in the hospital after being injured.

"He and I went to war together. I made a video. When he and I were in Luhansk, he was hit by a bullet and died there. His body remained there. I am hurt and hospitalized. I also came here from prison. And we will all be in one place... When we signed the contract, they wrote down the phone numbers of our relatives. They will inform themselves. Relatives are forbidden to go to the battlefield. In the army, we called him "Kama". I don't know why he agreed. I didn't want to sit in prison for five years. I wanted to be free," says this young man.
Kanibek has two sisters, he is the oldest child in the family. One of his sisters is now in Bishkek, and the other is in Moscow, visiting offices and looking for his brother. A few days ago, Kanibek's relatives found out about his death, but they still can't believe it.
"Although there is no official information, I don't want to believe that he is dead. A guy who was with him in the war told us that. But he does not give us the exact data. Now I turned to the Russian embassy in Kyrgyzstan, but they told me that they cannot help. They said that the information is in the Ministry of Defense of Russia. But I can't get anything from them. They didn't even let me in. They said "people like you come here often" and sent me back. When we talked to the guys who are in prison, they only said that he went to war. Now we are looking for groups where there is information about those who died in the war. I called the hotline, but I couldn't get any information there either. The last time I spoke to him, he said he was signing a contract. Then he didn't listen to me at all. But I can't believe he left of his own free will. I hope he is alive now and everything is fine," says the sister.
"The prison in Chelyabinsk is a trap for sending to war"

The editors contacted Zarkinai, the sister of another Kyrgyz serving time in a Russian prison. Relatives managed to save her younger brother from the maelstrom of war.
"My brother called us two months ago and said he was going to war. As far as I understand, employees of the Ministry of Defense came to the prison where he was, two months ago. My brother told me that they said: "You will only dig trenches, you will not go to the battlefield, but you will drive a car or do physical work". So he decided to agree. He told us that he would be released soon and return home to his children. Only he himself can call, get in touch with us. So we were worried, we thought he had gone there. We reminded him of his son, tried to convince him to return home. Since then, my heart has been restless. We calmed down only when he called us three days ago and said that he will not go to war," says Zarkinai.
The penitentiary institution mentioned by the interlocutors is located in Kopeysk, Chelyabinsk region. According to information from the colony, there are currently 1,573 people in it. Most of them were convicted of medium and serious crimes and illegal drug trafficking. It is not known exactly how many Kyrgyz there are.
Zarkina's younger brother was convicted of participating in the fight and has been in prison for three years. Sestri said that in recent months there have been a lot of people who go to war from prison.
"He said that there are many Muslims in this colony - Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Tajiks. There were also those who agreed to go to war. He said many people left there. As far as I understood, there were many migrants in this colony. They were deceived, they were told, "You will go free." He said that those who were sentenced to long-term sentences agreed. It is clear that he will not return alive from the war," says Zarkinai.

This woman, whose name has been changed for security reasons, works in Russian prisons as a translator for Kyrgyz nationals. She also heard the story of Kanibek. She is well informed about the situation in the prison in Chelyabinsk.
"Now the penitentiary institutions no. 6 and no. 1 in Chelyabinsk became a trap where they recruit for the war. According to my information, seven citizens of Kyrgyzstan are currently donating blood from this prison and going to war. We are constantly in contact with them. There is another problem. Most of them want extradition to Kyrgyzstan. But this is a very long process. For example, Kanibek could not be deployed on the battlefield, but protected. But the Kyrgyz government kept his documents for too long. In recent months, I have received a lot of calls from those whose relatives went to war from this prison. But I tell them that the contract with the Ministry of Defense is even worse than with the Wagner Group. It is unlikely that those who went to war will return alive," says this woman.
 According to official information, 1,418 Kyrgyz citizens have been charged and are serving sentences abroad. Of these, 1,167 are in Russia, 83 in Kazakhstan. There are 41 people in prisons in Iraq, 30 in Turkey, and 22 in Uzbekistan.
Cases of conscription of prisoners of war are actively discussed in groups of parents whose children are in prison. About 400 participants are registered in these three WhatsApp groups.
Parents in the group wrote that at least five or six young people agreed to go to war. It is known that recruitment for the war does not only take place in prisons in Chelyabinsk. Here's what the group administrator said:
“We also don't know how many guys left. In recent months, parents who fear for their children have started writing. Children do not speak openly. Someone says nothing and leaves. According to the information we received, our children are interrogated, put in solitary confinement or fined and demanded money. They are forced to fight in different ways. Recruitment for the war has intensified in recent months. This is apparently linked to calls to send migrants to war. The contract is not only signed by men, but also by women. We only just found out that a few more children are leaving. It will go in the fall. Recently, with the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we managed to defend one of our children. We heard that about 20 people went to Krasnoyarsk for the war. Among them are Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. Now all parents are worried".
After the mysterious death of the head of the private mercenary army "Wagner" Yevgeny Prigozhin last year, it became known that the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the private mercenary army "Redut" are sending migrants and prisoners of war to Ukraine. Migrants who spoke to the editors said that advertisements with promises of a Russian passport and big money were pasted on every house. There are cases of migrant women being recruited for war.
There is no official information about Kanibek yet. What the wounded guy from Uzbekistan said above has not been confirmed or denied. The editors are contacting his relatives and clarifying the information. But this story shows that Russian prisons are still recruiting for war.