Antara News·Indonesia·Tuesday, November 3, 2026 at 11:40 AM UTC

Ex-military, police among victims of Russian mercenary scheme: Polri

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Nadia PR, Rahmad Nasution

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Former Indonesian military and police personnel are among the victims of a human trafficking scheme involving recruitment as Russian mercenaries, a senior police officer said.

"The recruits were not all civilians; some were former members of the Indonesian military and police," Brig. Gen. Nurul Azizah said at the National Police (Polri) Criminal Investigation Department headquarters in Jakarta on Monday.

Nurul is director of the National Police Criminal Investigation Department's Directorate for the Protection of Women and Children and Combating Human Trafficking.

According to Nurul, the victims were not explicitly offered mercenary jobs but were instead recruited for other positions, including logistics work.

Meanwhile, Yolanda Evalyn Sebayang, deputy head of Subdirectorate 3 of the police department's Anti-trafficking Directorate, described the recruitment method in a case handled by Bogor Police. The report listed two suspects, one wanted suspect, and 22 victims.

She said victims were offered jobs through social media advertisements promoting various types of work in different countries, with attractive salaries.

Those who completed online registration forms were contacted and picked up by recruiters. Only then were they told they would be serving as Russian mercenaries.

"They were picked up and taken to a location where they were told that the job they had been offered was actually to serve as Russian mercenaries," she said.

She said those who agreed to the offer were required to sign a departure agreement.

Those who refused or requested to return home were required to reimburse transportation costs to their respective places of origin.

She urged the public to remain alert to overseas job advertisements that could conceal recruitment for service as Russian mercenaries.

The National Police Criminal Investigation Department's anti-trafficking directorate and provincial police units are handling five human trafficking cases involving the scheme. Authorities have named 13 suspects and identified 58 victims.

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