Into the Void: Putin's Foreign Fighters - BBC World Service Documentaries

Video Description

An unprecedented investigation into one of Russia's most covert war operations: the recruitment of foreign nationals as frontline soldiers for its invasion of Ukraine. This revelatory #BBCEye documentary follows journalist Nawal Al-Maghafi as she peels back the layers of the recruitment networks targeting young men from impoverished and war-torn countries like Syria and Yemen. Lured with promises of prosperity and citizenship that lead them into a brutal conflict from which many will never return. Click here to subscribe to our channel 👉🏽 https://bbc.in/3VyyriM ‘Into the Void: Putin's Foreign Fighters’ is driven by the personal stories of several foreign fighters. It opens with a secret call from one of them, ‘Habib’, a Syrian soldier on the frontline, who reveals the inner workings of the recruitment process and the grim reality faced by the foreign soldiers. The investigation then delves into the story of Omar, a Syrian construction worker, who, like many others, was tricked. Promised a non-combat role, Omar finds himself thrust into the brutal frontlines. A central figure in this web of deceit is Polina, a former teacher turned recruiter, who uses social media to entice economically vulnerable men across the world. We obtain leaked documents and correspondence that reveal her links to the regional authorities in Russia who support these recruitment operations, highlighting a state-sponsored effort to bolster troop numbers with foreign fighters. The film expands its scope to Yemen, another country becoming a fertile recruiting ground. Here, we meet Ali Al-Sabbahi, a Yemeni human rights lawyer, who is desperately trying to help the families of young men who have disappeared after traveling to Russia. The investigation follows the harrowing journey of two Yemeni men, Khalil and Hussein, who are eventually found in a Ukrainian prisoner-of-war facility. Their emotional interviews reveal the false promises that led them to war and the subsequent abandonment they face from both Russia and their home country. 00:00 Into the Void: Inside Russia’s foreign fighter recruitment 00:34 Life on the frontline in Ukraine 05:00 “Recruited Arabs are sent to die immediately” 06:29 Omar’s Story: From recruitment to the battlefield 09:03 Polina Alexandrovna: Russia’s recruitment operator 10:58 How recruitment deception targets foreign fighters 14:09 Recruitment since the start of the Ukraine war 15:24 Yemeni soldiers trapped in Russia’s war 19:00 Why Yemen is targeted for foreign fighter recruitment 21:40 Rare access inside Ukraine’s Prisoner of War facility 23:45 Tracing missing Yemeni soldiers 26:18 Khalil speaks to his mother from prison 29:05 Contract loophole used to trap recruits 30:36 Habib escapes Russia’s recruitment network 35:00 “To them, we are numbers, not human beings” 39:14 Confronting Polina Alexandrovna 44:35 Intimidation tactics used against journalists 45:50 Families plead for the return of their sons 48:34 One man’s fight to save Yemeni soldiers 49:26 Why foreign soldiers cannot be freed 🎥 Watch this film in ARABIC here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8UF-xsVl-8 🎧 Listen to The Documentary podcast Putin's Foreign Fighters here https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0mtl734 or wherever you get your BBC podcasts. 🎞️ To watch more investigative journalism from our award-winning BBC Eye investigations team, check out this documentary playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz_B0PFGIn4fa8LK1lptsvoA_spfJhzda 📽️ Watch more BBC Arabic investigations here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz_B0PFGIn4eYcZz_B4hdku76NOJjrJwl You may also be interested in watching these documentaries: https://youtu.be/v4WycNKcfyU https://youtu.be/pf8arQ03-lc https://youtu.be/LymByDEqWkM https://youtu.be/AlrrWx3hBek https://youtu.be/BigN9awZC5M https://youtu.be/ANxo0gBM6GM ---------------- This is the official BBC World Service YouTube channel. If you like what we do, you can also find us here: Instagram 👉🏽 https://www.instagram.com/bbcworldservice Twitter 👉🏽 https://twitter.com/bbcworldservice Facebook 👉🏽 https://facebook.com/bbcworldservice BBC World Service website 👉🏽 https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio Thanks for watching and subscribing! #BBCWorldService #WorldService #Documentary #Russia #Putin #Ukraine #Yemen #Syria #Morocco #Egypt #InvestigativeJournalism #OSINT