Russia has allegedly recruited at least 857 citizens of the Republic of Moldova to participate in the war against Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, citing the “I Want to Live” project, supported by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense.
The “I Want to Live” project operates a center that receives requests from Russian military personnel who want to surrender to Ukrainian forces. The project also publishes stories of people who were sent to the front and later chose to surrender rather than continue fighting.
According to statistics cited by Ukrainian intelligence, 81 Moldovan citizens have been killed in the war, while eight are believed to be prisoners of war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian intelligence recently cited the case of Moldovan citizen Victor Tabarta, who was allegedly given a choice between deportation from Russia and signing a contract with the Russian military. According to the Ukrainian side, he signed the contract, was sent to the front and was subsequently killed in the Kharkiv region.
The Ukrainian intelligence service has urged foreign nationals fighting on Russia’s side to surrender to Ukrainian forces.
Asked by Realitatea to comment on the figures, representatives of Moldova’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs neither confirmed nor denied the data presented by Ukrainian military intelligence.