“I want to live”: 327 citizens of Kyrgyzstan this year signed a contract with the Russian Federation to participate in the war against Ukraine

Since the beginning of 2025, at least 327 citizens of Kyrgyzstan have signed a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry to participate in the war against Ukraine, reports the Ukrainian State Project of the Coordination Staff on the management of prisoners of war “I want to live”.

It is noted that the real number of recruited is likely to be much higher, since only Kyrgyzstan citizens, not all natives of Kyrgyzstan with Russian citizenship, are listed.

According to the project, in 2023-2024, 360 Kyrgyzstans were recruited to the Russian army. Their names were published in April this year. “Thus, we fix the increase in the intensity of involvement in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of citizens of Kyrgyzstan,” – said “I want to live”.

The project emphasized that, as in the case of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, in the first six months of 2025, Russia recruited a record number of Kyrgyzstan citizens.

Kyrgyzstan’s authorities have not officially commented on the project.

The project “I want to live”, in particular, helps to take prisoners of war from Russia, who are fighting on its side, foreign citizens and mobilized on the territories of Ukraine occupied by Russian troops.