<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/13/i-made-the-biggest-mistake-young-yemeni-men-lured-into-russian-army-with-empty-promises>
"The first time I heard Hussein’s mother’s voice, it wasn’t anger that came
through the phone, it was exhaustion.
“There are rumours that he burned to death,” she said to me. “How do you think
that makes me feel as a mother? Where are you, Hussein? I’m looking for you.
Please my daughter, help me.”
Her 28-year-old son had left Yemen, chasing the promise of a salary that could
give him a better future. Within weeks, he had vanished into a war he did not
understand, in a country whose language he didn’t speak, to one of the world’s
most brutal frontlines. For months she scrolled the internet, searching for his
face in the videos coming out of foreign fighters on Russia’s frontline, or his
name in any of the chat groups discussing them, but had no success. Then a
document arrived from Russia: Hussein’s death certificate.
And yet, when I finally found Hussein, he was alive.
I’m Yemeni myself. I have reported on war for the
BBC for years, including on
my own country’s long collapse. But nothing prepared me for what I would learn
while investigating Russia’s recruitment of foreign fighters: the precision
with which vulnerability is targeted; how promises are tailored to poverty; how
citizenship becomes bait; how families are left to grieve in the dark."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
