Nurul Azizah, of Indonesia's National Police Criminal Investigation Department, speaks at a press conference in Jakarta on Nov 2, 2026. (Photo: Indonesian National Police Public Relations Division)

Indonesian police name suspects after 58 citizens lured to Russia to serve as mercenaries

The Indonesian citizens were initially offered jobs in logistics, border security and defence construction, but when arriving in Russia, were told to sign contracts to serve as mercenaries, undergo training and potentially be deployed to conflict zones.

03 Nov 2026, 05:30 · CNA · Join

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JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities have uncovered a human trafficking syndicate involving 58 citizens who were allegedly recruited to work as mercenaries in Russia.

Thirteen people have been named as suspects, including two Russians and a Ukrainian citizen, the National Police Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim Polri) said on Monday (Nov 2).

Nurul Azizah, director of Bareskrim Polri's directorate of crimes against women and children and human trafficking, said at a press conference that the perpetrators used social media, job portals and messaging apps to lure victims with promises of lucrative overseas employment, state news agency Antara reported.

“We are coordinating through the Indonesian National Police’s International Relations Division and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Everything is still under further review,” Nurul said in response to CNA's queries on Tuesday.

The victims were initially offered jobs in logistics, border security and defence construction, but after going through the recruitment process and being dispatched to Russia, they would be directed to sign contracts to serve as mercenaries, undergo training and potentially be deployed to conflict zones.

“It is true that they did not directly offer jobs as mercenaries, but rather as logistics workers,” Nurul told reporters in Jakarta on Monday, as quoted by Kompas.

The victims were promised signing bonuses of up to US$35,000 and monthly salaries of around US$3,000.

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Rita Wulandari Wibowo, director of Women and Child Protection at Metro Jaya Regional Police, said that recruiters also promised some victims child allowances of more than 3 million rupiah along with other benefits, Kompas reported.

“But in reality, none of these promises were fulfilled; the actual values were significantly lower, with some victims yet to receive any payments to this day,” Rita said on Monday.

The 58 individuals were identified after five police reports were made. Bareskrim Polri, together with the West Jakarta Metropolitan Police, Metro Jaya Regional Police and the Bogor Police, are investigating.

In a case investigated by the Bogor Police, victims were temporarily housed at a facility in Sukamantri Village in Bogor, with two suspects, identified by the initials FIK and STH, responsible for overseeing the victims’ living arrangements while they awaited departure.

Another suspect identified as MBH served as the financier throughout this process, covering recruitment expenses, lodging fees, medical check-ups, daily food costs and travelling arrangements, Kompas reported.

Additional reporting by Kiki Siregar

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