A horrifying trade is thriving in today’s Russia. People are being bought and sold into military service for as little as 100,000 rubles (£860), according to anti-slavery campaigners. This alarming trend has drawn attention to Russia’s long-standing and deeply rooted problem with modern slavery, a crisis made worse by state neglect, corruption and outright complicity.
The Russian dictator’s regime has failed to tackle this human rights catastrophe. Russia has the worst record on slavery in Europe, with around 1.9 million people estimated to be living in servitude. Globally, it ranks eighth in prevalence, with 13 slaves per 1,000 people. Only North Korea has more slaves in absolute terms. According to the Global Slavery Index, Russia has done less to address slavery than almost every other country.
Despite the formal end of serfdom in 1861, slavery is thriving in the shadows of Russian society. Much of it is driven by criminal gangs working hand in hand with corrupt officials and police. Victims are often migrant workers from Central and East Asia, but some ethnic Russians are also trafficked or kidnapped. Victims are confined in places like factory basements or remote farms, where escape is nearly impossible. In one case, a Moscow supermarket imprisoned eleven people in its basement for between five and ten years.
Male victims are commonly sedated with alcohol and barbiturates and forced into manual labour. Women are often sold into prostitution. Entire communities are sometimes complicit. A campaigner noted that in some villages, everyone knows what is happening and either helps or looks the other way.
Although Russia has signed treaties against human trafficking, its enforcement is practically nonexistent. Only 53 cases have reached Russian courts in the past 15 years.
Now, Russia’s modern-day slavery is colliding with its hunger for soldiers. Regional authorities have offered bonuses of between 35,000 and 100,000 rubles (£301 to £860) for bringing volunteers to military recruitment offices. This has created a perverse incentive for traffickers, who now find it more profitable to sell enslaved people to the military rather than other slave owners.
Slaves are being sold directly to the army. In southern Russia, a skinny man might fetch 15,000 rubles (£129), but a skilled labourer like a mechanic or tractor driver might sell for 30,000 rubles (£258). According to Zahir Ismileov from the Russian anti-slavery group Alternativa, traffickers are increasingly using fraud to sign people into military contracts. Some victims are drugged or manipulated into signing paperwork they do not understand. In many cases, fraudsters list their own bank details to receive the soldier’s pay, which can be up to 300,000 rubles (£2,580) per month.
Victims often do not remember signing contracts. Some die on the front lines before sobering up. Others are tricked into handing over property, pensions or savings to their captors.
Even local recruitment officials are involved. In Irkutsk, opposition politician Alexei Tupiten claims that enlistment staff received over 1 million rubles (£8,600) in bonuses last year by falsely registering all conscripts as voluntary recruits and splitting the proceeds.
There are real survivors, but they are rare. One man from Penza, who has learning difficulties, was sold to a livestock farm and later to the military. He managed to escape after calling his family. Another man from the Volga region was moved between slave houses and eventually fled through a forest to safety. However, most cases never make it to court. Victims are often too traumatised or frightened to testify.
Meanwhile, Russian children in places like Krasnodar are paraded in military events, dressed up among tanks and missiles. War propaganda continues while systemic exploitation of the most vulnerable props up the Kremlin’s war effort.
