At least 12 migrants detained near the Finnish border were recruited to participate in the war in Ukraine, promising them a year of work “with good wages and medicine” without deportation from Russia and a ban on entry into the country. This was reported by the BBC Russian Service with reference to a fugitive from Somalia.
Somali Awad, whose real name and profession are not disclosed by journalists, fled the country due to attacks by Islamist militants and in July 2023 ended up in Moscow. He planned to get to Germany to reunite with his pregnant wife and his wife and son, who had moved earlier.
After unsuccessful attempts to illegally cross the border with Poland in Belarus, the fugitive from Somalia returned to Russia, but by this time his tourist visa expired. Having traveled to Belarus again, he learned that it had become easier to cross the border with Finland and went to Karelia, several more Somalis went with him by taxi to the city of Lakhdenpokhya.
On the Sortavala highway, the car was met by a police patrol, and the passengers were detained. According to Awad, after a night in a local military unit, they were taken to court and fined, and the decree also stated that the detainees would be expelled from the country. As a result, the Somali was placed in the Temporary Detention Center for Foreign Citizens (TSVSIG) in Petrozavodsk.
On the sixth day, the foreigners were offered a deal: they needed to “work for the state,” and in return they would have the ban on entry into Russia and deportation from the country lifted. As Awad noted, the exact provisions of the agreement are unknown to him, since he could not read the document in Russian. He knows that they were talking about an annual contract for a “simple and good” job with remuneration, medical care and the right to stay in Russia.
As a result, the documents were signed by 12 people — six Somalis, one Cuban and five Arabs. They were loaded onto a bus and driven south for two days. The group with Avad was taken to a tent camp under military guard near the border with Ukraine; the exact location is unknown to him. “They brought us on November 27, and on the 28th we refused what we signed,” the Somali recalled. Because of this, foreigners began to be threatened with prison.
On December 4, they were promised to terminate their contracts and return them to the TsVSIG. Letters about this have already been handed to four Somalis, but Awad has not yet received the document.
A man from Iraq confirmed the information about the recruitment to journalists. “My visa ran out, I decided to go to Finland and ask for asylum, but I was arrested. And then they offered a choice: either join the mercenaries, or return to Iraq and be banned from entering Russia for five years,” he said.
«To the checkpoint for a good price and a bike for 30-80 thousand.» What is happening on the Russian-Finnish border near Kostomuksha
Due to a large flow of asylum seekers, on November 18, Finland closed four automobile checkpoints on the border with Russia. Already on November 22, the country's Prime Minister announced the closure of all checkpoints on the border with Russia, except for the northern “Raya-Joosepi”. And on November 28, the authorities announced the temporary closure of all checkpoints on the border with Russia.
As Yle writes, citing Heikki Ahtiainen, deputy commander of the border service of South-East Finland, the checkpoints are now preparing to open on December 14. At the same time, the border service is ready to extend the restrictions.