Russia is recruiting front-line troops for its war against Ukraine by any means possible and has duped at least 18 American men into the fighting.
Moscow has suffered 1.5 million casualties, including 500,000 deaths, since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to UK estimates, and is aggressively appealing to foreigners to support its war effort.
Most are sent to the “meat grinder” – the front lines where they are mostly cannon fodder, quickly mowed down by Ukrainian drones, soldiers or artillery.
“It has become a full-fledged industry and it is very profitable. Russia is suffering 30,000 to 40,000 casualties every month and it is no longer able to cover its losses,” Vitaliy Matvienko, who heads a Ukrainian state project on Russian capitulations, told the Post.
“They recruit foreigners, send them to war, and when they are killed, their death does not create any negative reaction in Russian society. In most cases, the families of killed foreign recruits do not receive the compensation they are supposed to receive.”
Agents around the world have been mobilized and are using targeted ads on Facebook, TikTok and Telegram to prey on the poor, vulnerable and ideologically obsessed – earning $24,000 per recruit, plus a cut in their pay.
Among those deceived was Seth William Baker, a lance corporal from Gilbert, Ariz., who served as a bulk fuel specialist with the 4th Marine Logistics Group. He was killed on the front at the age of 23, just three months after enlisting. American recruits typically receive a $26,000 signing bonus and $2,000 per month.
Ukrainian security officials have identified nearly 29,000 foreigners from 135 different countries, including North Korea, Kenya and Ghana, fighting for Russia, but emphasize that the real figure is significantly higher. Officials say many are being deceived online.
That was the case for Baker, who joined the U.S. Marines at age 18 and earned the National Defense Service Medal.
But after refusing to take the COVID vaccine when the Department of Defense made it mandatory for all service members, he was discharged from the Marine Corps.
He was then indoctrinated online by Russian propaganda and lured into joining Putin’s war.
“There are many reasons why I came here, but one of the big defining moments was when I was a lance corporal,” Baker said in a video recorded inside a Russian bunker.
“They imposed a COVID vaccination mandate in the military. A few of us – not very many unfortunately – said, ‘We’re not going to accept it.’ There’s a lot of talk about freedom in America, but not for some of us, I guess.
Matvienko said Baker’s case was typical of the type of person Russia seeks to recruit.
“He was discharged from military service, failed to get into a police academy and apparently struggled to find his place in American society. Seth was obviously a young man susceptible to influence,” he said.
The Post has contacted Baker’s parents for comment.
He is not alone. Ukrainian intelligence has identified 17 other Americans enlisted in the Russian military.
Former Massachusetts city councilman Wilmer Puello-Mota, who was on trial for a child pornography charge, fled the country and is now fighting in the war in Russia.
The 30-year-old former Holyoke official, who served in the U.S. Air Force for six years, signed his mercenary contract in April 2024 and was seen in a Russian propaganda video planting an American flag in a Ukrainian city.
“Victory will be ours,” he declared in Russian before defending his position. “I don’t consider myself a traitor. The United States and Russia are not at war.”
His legal troubles began after authorities found nude photos of a 17-year-old girl on his cellphone in 2020. He was then charged with child pornography even as he tried to claim he thought the victim was 22 years old.
Puello-Mota still fights for Russia and last month suffered shrapnel in his leg following an explosion. It is unclear how serious his injuries are.
The most high-profile American case is that of Michael Gloss, 21, son of a senior CIA official killed during the war in April 2024.
Photos emerged of Gloss wearing military camouflage clothing and posing alongside Russian soldiers, to the shock of her parents Juliane Gallina, then deputy director of digital innovation at the CIA, and US Navy veteran Larry Gloss.
He reportedly suffered from mental health issues and stopped taking his medication before going “off the grid” and later reappearing in the Russian military.
Gloss died of massive blood loss during an artillery barrage in Donetsk while trying to rescue a wounded Russian soldier, according to his father.
Putin even presented a medal recognizing outstanding civilian service to U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff to present to Gloss’s parents.
The latest American to join Russian forces is Derek Huffman, who moved his family to Russia to escape what he calls LGBTQ “indoctrination” in America.
The 47-year-old vowed to fight to earn “respect” and obtain Russian citizenship for his wife, DeAnna, and their three daughters, but soon found himself sent to the front lines.
“He feels like he’s being thrown to the wolves right now, and he kind of has to lean on faith, and that’s what we all do,” his wife said in a now-deleted YouTube video.
But Huffman returned home unscathed after a year, only to tell his supporters that he had “signed another contract” because “victory is near” for Russia.
Except that a Russian decree of 2022 specifies that military contracts are automatically extended until the end of the “special military operation”.
Matvienko says Russia has a “very strange, almost psychedelic attitude toward Americans.”
“When an American suddenly finds himself fighting alongside Russia, it becomes an almost sacred event for Russian propaganda,” he said.
“Their opinions are presented as extremely important. They are invited on television, featured in reports, interviewed and broadcast in Russian media and public events.
“Russian propaganda presents them as proof that ‘Western people understand what’s really going on’ or that ‘ordinary Americans support Russia’.”
However, the realities within the forces are very different. Foreign mercenaries have reported experiencing physical and racist violence at the hands of Russian soldiers they are supposed to serve alongside.
Some are sent on death missions and forced to participate in so-called “meat assaults” where they are quickly killed, because their commanders view their lives as disposable compared to the Russians. Others are forced to fight, even when seriously injured.
Matvienko added that foreign fighters are also targeted for their money and that a “significant part of their salary is taken away.”
“When they arrive at their military units, they are told they must contribute to the unit ‘fund’ to purchase drones, vehicles, fuel and other equipment,” he said. “Those who refuse may be beaten or threatened with execution. »
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