AT LEAST 455 Southasians have been killed fighting for Russia in the Russo-Ukrainian war, according to data provided to Himal Southasian and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project by Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, an official body responsible for handling POWs and tracking foreign fighters. The data – in part obtained from sources within the Russian military, according to the Coordination Headquarters – covers the period from the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 to September 2025.
The list of those killed – which includes citizens of Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan – shows casualty figures far higher in some cases than those so far released or acknowledged by governments of the region. The data also names Southasians known to have been recruited into the Russian military from these countries, with a tally of 1923 recruits.
Sri Lanka tops the list of deaths, with at least 275 citizens killed in action out of at least 751 recruited. “The actual number of Sri Lankan nationals recruited into the Russian army, as well as those killed or missing in action, is likely significantly higher,” the Coordination Headquarters told Himal. The country’s foreign minister, Vijitha Herath, informed the Sri Lankan parliament last year that 59 Sri Lankans had been killed out of 554 recruited as of January 2025. The Sri Lankan foreign ministry had not responded to questions from Himal at the time this story was published.
Public information indicates that illicit agents and networks have been recruiting Southasians to fight for the Russian military, often by misleading them with promises of civilian employment. Southasians in the Russian military as well as their families report having promised payments and death benefits delayed, withheld or misappropriated, including via coercion or fraud, sometimes by the fighters’ military superiors.