Russian authorities rounded up thousands of suspected illegal migrants on New Year’s Eve, and some outlets have reported many of the detained migrants were forced to enlist in the war against Ukraine.
The Kremlin-controlled news agency RIA Novosti reported that around 3,000 migrants were detained in St. Petersburg alone. The Kyiv Post said migrant-related raids also took place in Moscow, Chelyabinsk and other cities on New Year’s Eve.
Following the start of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine on February 2022, Russia has introduced multiple pieces of legislation that encourage migrants with Russian passports to serve in the military. One of the most notable examples of such legislation was a decree Putin signed in March that makes the path to citizenship easier for foreign nationals if they sign a one-year contract for military service during the war in Ukraine.
Russia has also been accused of forcing detained migrants to enlist in the military in the past. In August, police in St. Petersburg detained more than 100 people during a raid at a large food warehouse. Russian business news outlet RBC said law enforcement officers had enacted a new procedure that can be used in migration raids of bringing migrants who are now Russian citizens to an enlistment office.
Photo by TATYANA MAKEYEVA/AFP via Getty Images
The Kyiv Post wrote that reports emerged last year of similar raids on New Year’s Eve. The outlet said the “roundups targeted those with recently acquired Russian citizenship who had failed to register for compulsory military service.”
During this year’s raids, one suspected illegal migrant detained in Moscow was dressed as Santa Claus, the Kyiv Post said the Russian online news outlet SOTA reported.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email on Wednesday for comment.
The Moscow Times cited reports from the local news websites Fontanka and Bumaga in its coverage of the recent New Year’s migrant round-ups.
“Some of the migrants, who are predominantly from Central Asian countries, have been handed military summons on the spot, while others are forcibly taken to military enlistment offices, according to reports,” The Moscow Times wrote.
Writing about the New Year’s raids, Reuters noted that many migrants from neighboring Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia come to Russia seeking work.
During his annual press conference in December, Putin said there are more than 10 million labor migrants in Russia according to Reuters.
“This is not an easy problem,” the Russian leader said.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.