A human trafficking racket promising lucrative overseas employment has fraudulently dispatched thirty Bangladeshi nationals to Russia, where they were forced into active combat on the frontlines of the Russia-Ukraine war. At least twenty of them have reportedly been killed in military actions.
The harrowing scheme came to light following a targeted raid by the Special Response Battalion (SRB), resulting in the arrest of two key masterminds behind the trafficking syndicate: Mizanur Rahman, 55, founder of Jabale Nur International, and his associate Abu Taher, alias Lentu. Additional Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Moha. Asaduzzaman, Commander of SRB-10, confirmed the arrests and detailed the investigation during a press conference held at Karwan Bazar in Dhaka at 11:00 am on Wednesday, 14 October.
According to findings by the SRB, the victims—hailing predominantly from impoverished families across districts including Gopalganj, Mymensingh, Narayanganj, Jamalpur, Pabna, Chapainawabganj, Faridpur, Rajbari, and Gazipur—were recruited under the guise of securing well-paid construction jobs in Russia. Each applicant paid approximately 10 lakh taka to the recruiters. On 7 May, the cohort of thirty men departed Bangladesh through three agencies: Jabale Nur, RS International, and TS Group.
Upon arrival in Russia, any expectation of civilian employment evaporated. Local handlers confiscated the men’s passports and mobile phones before handing them directly over to the Russian military. After undergoing a brief 21-day basic training exercise, the recruits were deployed to active combat zones without adequate physical conditioning, tactical instruction, or combat experience.
Investigators revealed that these untrained recruits were deployed as human decoy targets on the frontlines. Military units placed them in exposed advance positions so that incoming enemy drone strikes would betray opposing firing locations and distances.
Tragedy struck almost immediately upon deployment. On their first day in the field, seventeen Bangladeshi recruits were killed in a coordinated drone attack. Three more succumbed to injuries in subsequent engagements, bringing the verified death toll to twenty out of the thirty men transported.
Of the ten survivors, two managed to return to Bangladesh despite sustaining critical injuries. One survivor, Rajan, recounted how a drone strike shattered his lower spine, leaving his legs completely paralyzed. Unable to walk, he crawled nearly four kilometres on his chest to reach a military encampment before securing evacuation. Among the remaining eight men, two are currently undergoing treatment in a Moscow hospital, while six remain stranded in active combat zones.
The SRB confirmed that the network operated through an international network. The Bangladeshi masterminds collaborated with a Russian handler named Igor and a Kyrgyz national identified as Yulia. Efforts are ongoing to track down another Bangladeshi accomplice, Mostafizur, alongside foreign associates. Senior law enforcement officials urged jobseekers to rigorously verify agency credentials before transferring funds or travelling abroad, emphasizing the tragic plight of families who are now unable to retrieve the mortal remains of their loved ones.
