First Indonesian POW fighting for Russia in Ukraine sparks Jakarta crackdown

Ukraine has captured its first Indonesian prisoner of war, exposing Jakarta’s uphill battle to stop its citizens from being recruited to fight for Russia in the war sparked by Moscow’s 2022 invasion.

The 49-year-old contract soldier from Java was captured in the frontline Zaporizhzhia region after entering Ukrainian-held territory following a drone strike on his Russian unit, The Guardian reported, citing Kyiv’s state-backed “I Want to Live” surrender initiative.

According to the project, roughly 283 Indonesian nationals were recruited during the first nine months of this year to support Moscow’s war effort.

Ukrainian intelligence has long alleged that Russian recruiters target citizens from across the Asia-Pacific and Africa with attractive job offers, only to deploy them to the battlefield upon arrival. Moscow has dismissed the claims as “dangerous and misleading” propaganda.

In August, Ukrainian military intelligence reported that at least three Filipinos had been killed fighting along Russian front lines since the start of the conflict. A Ukrainian brigadier general told CNN last year that more than 18,000 foreigners from 128 countries and territories had served or were actively serving in Russia’s armed forces.

Indonesia has ramped up digital surveillance across social media platforms advertising foreign recruitment, warning that such schemes often amount to human trafficking.

“We are currently identifying and determining the most appropriate follow-up actions to prevent recruitment efforts by parties that could potentially threaten our national security,” Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs Nezar Patria said last week, according to state news agency Antara.

Earlier this month, the foreign ministry called on Russia to stop enlisting Indonesian nationals, triggered by reports that a former Jakarta taxi driver was killed while fighting for Russia. In January, an ex-member of the Indonesian national police’s elite paramilitary unit was stripped of his citizenship after joining a Russian private military contractor in Ukraine.

Despite official warnings, Jakarta has struggled to understand why an increasing number of its citizens are taking up arms for the Russian military.

“This is an issue we have been investigating for quite some time, but we have not yet been able to reach any conclusions about what is actually happening behind it,” said Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections.

Yusril said that authorities face legal limits when attempting to physically stop citizens from travelling abroad on their own accord. “We cannot prevent them because everyone has the right to make their own decisions,” he said, according to Antara.

Under Indonesian law, however, citizens who enlist in a foreign military without prior presidential authorisation face having their citizenship revoked.