Holiday Ayo - A total of 200 foreign mercenaries from 37 countries were captured while fighting for Russia and are now being held by the Ukrainian military.

According to the Ukrainian Coordination Agency for the Management of Prisoners of War, the prisoners come from various countries, including Kenya, Nepal, Tajikistan, and several others. They claim they were tricked into joining the war by Russia.

According to CNN, the prisoners did not actually want to fight, and Russia allegedly used deception, bribery, and threats to recruit foreigners into its military.

Because Russia has difficulty recruiting its own citizens to fight in Ukraine, it relies on foreigners to strengthen its forces.

The head of Ukraine's prisoner-of-war headquarters, Brigadier General Dmitry Usov, said that as many as 18,000 foreigners from 128 countries have fought or are currently fighting for Russia.

This figure does not include the thousands of North Korean soldiers sent to assist Russia as part of military cooperation between the two countries.

The increasing number of foreign nationals fighting in Ukraine has prompted many countries to call on Russia to stop recruiting their citizens.

Earlier this month, Kenyan President William Ruto expressed concern about "a number of Kenyan teenagers being illegally recruited to fight in the conflict."

The South African government will investigate at least 17 of its citizens who are fighting in the war after they sent distress calls seeking help to return home from the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

The following day, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said 44 Indian nationals were fighting for Russia, and the Indian government "has again raised the issue with Russia to urge their immediate release and stop this practice."

He added that the Indian government is taking steps to prevent its citizens from being tricked into joining by Russia.

Ukraine's Defense Intelligence told CNN that the number of foreign nationals found fighting has increased every year since the Russian invasion in 2002, with a sharp increase this year.

According to Kyiv, the number of foreigners arrested by Ukrainian forces in the first nine months of this year was double the total for all of last year, and last year's figure was five times higher than in 2023.

The Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian Military have not yet responded to CNN's requests for comment, although Moscow has previously denied allegations it is forcing foreigners to join.