Yemen Monitor/Marib/Special:
The Russian Armed Forces have recruited hundreds of Yemeni men to fight in Ukraine, in a mysterious operation that highlights the growing ties between Moscow and the Houthi group.
Yemeni recruits who traveled to Russia told the “Financial Times” that they were promised high-paying jobs and even Russian citizenship. Upon arrival, with the help of a secret network linked to the Houthis, they were forcibly conscripted into the Russian army and sent to the frontlines in Ukraine.
US diplomats say, the rapprochement between the Kremlin and the Houthis, unthinkable before the war in Ukraine, is a sign of how far Russia is willing to go to expand this conflict to new theaters, including the Middle East.
Contracts signed by the Yemenis, which the Financial Times has seen, highlight a company founded by Abdul Wali Abdo Hassan al-Jabiri, a prominent Houthi politician. Registered in Salalah, Oman, the company’s registration documents identify it as a tour operator and a wholesale supplier of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals.
The recruitment of Yemeni soldiers appears to have begun as early as July. One recruitment contract seen by the Financial Times was dated July 3 and signed by the head of the contract soldier selection center in Novgorod.
One recruit, named Nabil, who exchanged text messages with the Financial Times, estimated that he was part of a group of about 200 Yemenis who were recruited into the Russian army in September after arriving in Moscow.
While some were experienced fighters, many had received no military training. He said they were deceived into traveling to Russia and signed recruitment contracts that they could not read.
Nabil, who asked that his real name not be used, said he was lured by promises of lucrative work in fields such as “security” and “engineering”, hoping to earn enough to complete his studies.
After a few weeks, he and four other Yemenis hid in a forest in Ukraine, wearing military uniforms with Russian insignia and their faces masked with scarves. “We are under fire. Mines, drones, trenches, and hideouts,” he said, adding that a colleague had attempted suicide and was taken to hospital.
In a video, the men said they were carrying wooden planks through a mine-infested forest, apparently to build a bomb shelter. “We don’t even get five minutes to rest, we are very tired.”
Another message sent a few days later said they were not wearing winter clothes. Nabil’s uncle, who lives in the United Kingdom, said last week that his nephew had recently been injured and was in hospital, but he could not share more details.
Abdullah, another Yemeni who asked that his real name not be used, said he was promised a $10,000 bonus and $2,000 a month, as well as eventual Russian citizenship, to work in Russia manufacturing drones.
Upon arriving in Moscow on September 18, Abdullah said his group was forcibly taken from the airport to a facility five hours away from Moscow, where a man, speaking in simple Arabic, held a gun to their heads when they refused to sign the recruitment contract, which was in Russian.
“I signed it because I was scared,” he said. They were then put on buses to Ukraine, received basic military training, and were sent to a military base near Rostov, close to the Ukrainian border.
