,000 Iraqis in the russia–ukraine War: WHO Recruited Them — and Where is Their Loyalty?

On 28 July 2026, Iraqi National Security Adviser Qasim al-Aboudi said Iraqi intelligence had identified between 3,000 and 5,000 Iraqi youths fighting in the Russian and Ukrainian armies. He said hundreds had reportedly been killed and dozens captured, while around 200 Iraqi bodies were believed to remain in Russia.

The number is disturbing — but it needs to be handled carefully.

The 3,000–5,000 figure is an Iraqi official estimate, not a verified battlefield census. Earlier investigations produced different figures. An Iraqi investigative report in 2025 cited an estimate of roughly 2,000 Iraqis serving under Russian contracts and around 3,000 fighting alongside Ukrainian forces. But Ukraine’s ambassador to Baghdad said in February 2026 that Ukrainian authorities had no information confirming Iraqi citizens fighting for Ukraine. In other words, the existence of Iraqi fighters on the Russian side is substantially better documented than the precise number allegedly serving Ukraine.

How did Iraq Reach This Point?

The answer begins with economic vulnerability.

Recruitment networks reportedly targeted unemployed and economically disadvantaged young Iraqis through Facebook, Telegram, TikTok and informal offices, particularly in southern Iraqi provinces. Some were promised employment, education or travel opportunities before being directed toward military contracts.

The financial offers were powerful.

Reports cited signing payments of up to $20,000 and monthly salaries around $2,800–$3,000, alongside promises of Russian citizenship, insurance, pensions and compensation for injuries or death.

For a young Iraqi without stable employment, this is not merely a military recruitment problem.

It is an economic-security problem.

🇷🇺 WHO Recruited the Iraqis?

The strongest documented evidence concerns Russian recruitment networks.

According to Iraqi authorities, some recruitment was carried out through intermediaries and illegal offices. On 26 February 2026, Iraq announced the arrest of 17 people accused of recruiting Iraqis into the Russian military. Two were subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment by a Najaf court.

Iraq also invoked Article 165 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which criminalizes joining a foreign armed force without government authorization.

There is therefore a critical distinction:

Some Iraqis appear to have voluntarily signed military contracts for money or citizenship.

Others reportedly travelled under work, study or other pretexts and discovered that their circumstances had effectively turned into military recruitment.

Those two categories should not be morally or legally conflated.

🇺🇦 And WHO Recruited the Iraqis for Ukraine?

This is where the story becomes much less certain.

Ukraine created its International Legion for the Defence of Ukraine shortly after the Russian invasion in February 2022 and openly accepted foreign volunteers. Foreign volunteers who formally enlist in the Ukrainian armed forces become legal members of Ukraine’s military and receive military pay. ([pace.coe.int](https://pace.coe.int/en/files/33949/html?utm_source=chatgpt.com)⁠)

But there is no reliable public evidence establishing that thousands of Iraqis were recruited by Kyiv.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Iraq explicitly told Rudaw in February 2026 that he had no information on Iraqi citizens fighting for Ukraine.

Therefore, Baghdad’s figure of 3,000–5,000 Iraqis on both sides should be treated as an intelligence estimate requiring further verification, not as an established fact that exactly half — or any specific proportion — are fighting for Ukraine.

Are They Mercenaries?

Not automatically.

A foreigner who signs a military contract and becomes an official member of a state’s armed forces is not necessarily a mercenary under international humanitarian law. The Council of Europe has noted that foreign volunteers incorporated into Ukraine’s armed forces are regular servicemen rather than mercenaries under the relevant legal criteria.

But Iraqis recruited through deception, trafficking or illegal intermediaries represent a different case.

In September 2025, an Iraqi court sentenced a recruiter to life imprisonment for human trafficking after finding that he recruited Iraqis and sent them to fight for Russia.

🏳️ Where is Their Allegiance?

There is no evidence that these thousands form a single ideological or political bloc.

According to Iraqi officials, economic motives dominate. Some recruits appear to have been attracted by money, citizenship and employment rather than loyalty to Moscow or Kyiv.

This means the phenomenon says less about Iraqi geopolitical allegiance than it does about Iraq’s unresolved socioeconomic crisis.

What is Baghdad Doing?

By February 2026, Iraq had created a high-level committee headed by the National Security Adviser, arrested 17 alleged recruiters, opened diplomatic contacts with Ukraine concerning Iraqi prisoners, and planned a delegation to Moscow to establish the true number of recruits. The Iraqi embassy in Moscow also established a hotline.

But the obvious question remains:

How did thousands of Iraqis reach foreign military recruitment networks before the state noticed?

How Can They be Brought Back?

Baghdad needs a dedicated repatriation and reintegration programme:

1️⃣ Identify Iraqis serving, missing, detained or killed.

2️⃣ Negotiate with Moscow and Kyiv for prisoners, wounded personnel and those seeking to return.

3️⃣ Screen legally — separating voluntary enlistment, illegal recruitment, trafficking victims and suspected criminals.

4️⃣ Reintegrate returnees through psychological support, vocational training, employment and family assistance.

Simply bringing them home without addressing unemployment would recreate the conditions that sent them abroad.

What is Their Sect?

There is no credible public database establishing their sectarian composition.

The fact that recruitment networks reportedly operated in southern Iraqi provinces does not prove that all recruits belong to one sect.

Turning an unemployment-driven recruitment phenomenon into a Sunni–Shia narrative without evidence would distort the story.

🎯 The Real Question

The most serious issue is not simply that Iraqis are fighting in Russia or Ukraine.

It is that Iraq has become a manpower reservoir for foreign wars because economic desperation can be converted into military recruitment.

Russia needs manpower.

Ukraine needs manpower.

Recruitment networks need vulnerable young men.

And Iraq needs to ask why a foreign military contract worth thousands of dollars can appear more attractive to some young Iraqis than a future at home.

That is the real security failure Baghdad must confront.