At least 150 Yemenis are fighting in the ranks of the Russian army in the war against Ukraine. "We are civilians", one of them tells the German public broadcaster ARD. According to him, he and many others were lured to Russia with false promises and then sent to the front.
Sometimes they are sent to the front lines alone, and commanders control them remotely via radio. More than 20 of the Yemenis have already been wounded or killed, the man says. Another Yemeni soldier in the Russian army says he wants to return home.
Promises of a $3,000 salary
ARD managed to trace the Yemenis' path to the front in Ukraine, examining a number of military documents, contracts and photographs. It all began in Oman, a country neighboring Yemen. Many Yemenis fled to Oman from the civil war in their country. One of the men said that many did not have permanent jobs and were casual workers in cafes and restaurants.
In this situation, he and many others received a tempting offer. According to several contracts available to ARD, the company "Al Jabri General Trading and Invest" offered to find them work "on Russian territory" that would match "their qualifications and experience".
The contracts do not say anything about sending them to the front. According to the Yemenis, it was about working for a security company. They were even promised Russian citizenship, $10,000 in advance and a salary of $3,000 per month, the men say. This is significantly higher than the average salary in Yemen. In return, the company was supposed to receive several thousand dollars in commissions for each person with whom the mediation was successful.
At the front instead of working in Russia
The Yemenis fly to Moscow via Dubai. There, they are unexpectedly met by representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense and soldiers. They are given contracts for mobilization into the army, which are in Russian. The man tells ARD that none of them understood what was written in them. With weapons pointed at them, the men sign the contracts. At that moment, they still do not realize that they will be sent to an active war zone.
The men are taken to Nizhny Novgorod, a Russian city with a population of one million. From there, they are taken to southern Russia, not far from the Ukrainian border. It is only a few weeks later that they are sent to the front.
Who is behind this scheme?
It seems that a whole network of Russian and Yemeni players is behind the recruitment of Yemenis for the Russian army. At the center of it is Yemeni businessman Abdul Wali Al Jabri, who organizes the sending of the men to Moscow and owns the agency that offers them this opportunity. In the Omani commercial register, the company is registered as a tour operator and an "import and export office".
As part of their investigation, ARD journalists spoke with Al Jabri, who denies the accusations that he deceived the Yemenis. "They left of their own free will and knowing that they would be drafted into the army", claims Al Jabri. According to him, their families also knew, and his mediation was simply a service of "an ordinary travel agency".
However, Al Jabri is not only an ordinary businessman, but also a politician in Sanaa - the capital of Yemen, controlled by the armed rebel militia Houthi. In Sanaa, he is even a member of parliament. In a UN document, Al Jabri is listed as a "brigadi general" of the Houthis and "de facto leader" of the rebel group.
The clues also lead to another man - a Russian citizen who participated in recruiting Yemenis for the Russian army. From his role, it is clear that it is unlikely that the mediation was the work of an ordinary private "travel agency". The Russian citizen who personally accompanied the Yemenis on their flight to Russia is listed in the documents as "Dmitry". He is said to be a representative of Al Jabri's agency. In fact, Dmitry has been the deputy governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region since May 2024, and is also a successful Russian diplomat with a long career. The Russian Foreign Ministry did not respond to ARD's questions on this case.
Strategic "comfortable relations"
Experts such as political scientist Margarete Klein from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs view the recruitment of Yemeni fighters in the context of the strategic "comfortable relations" between the Houthi rebels and the Russian leadership. According to media reports, Russia has been supplying the Houthis with weapons.
Last year, a delegation of the Houthis even visited Moscow. Both countries maintain close relations with Iran, and the United States is their main opponent, Klein notes. The Houthis are designated a terrorist organization by Washington. In recent months, they have repeatedly fired missiles at both Israel and international ships in the Red Sea.
Klein sees the recruitment of foreign mercenaries as a domestic political motive, "to avoid the need for forced mobilization of Russian men". The Russian tactic of attacking with "human waves" requires many, but not necessarily experienced and trained soldiers. The high number of victims of this approach in Russia is more easily explained if those killed are not Russian citizens.
Authors: Tobias Dammers (ARD) | Mutassim al-Khetari (ARD) | Andreas Spinrath (ARD)