Alexander Bastrykin. TASS photo
The Investigative Committee of Russia (ICR) has identified more than 80,000 migrants who obtained Russian citizenship but failed to register for military service. Of those, 20,000 have been sent to the zone of the special military operation (SMO), said the head of the ICR, Alexander Bastrykin, during the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, MK reports.
According to Bastrykin, ICR officers conduct raids to identify draft dodging migrants jointly with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Russian National Guard.
“We are catching Russian citizens — foreigners who received citizenship but did not register for military service, even though they are obliged to. We’ve already caught 80,000 such Russian citizens who not only refuse to go to the front — they don’t even want to visit the military registration office. Already 20,000 young Russian citizens, who for some reason don’t like living in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, or Kyrgyzstan, are on the front lines. Maybe someone can explain why they don’t want to live in their homeland?” Bastrykin said in his speech during the session titled “All Flags Are Welcome Here.”
As an example, the ICR chairman cited one of the participants in Operation “Truba,” who went to the SMO in exchange for Russian citizenship.
Bastrykin also noted that, in the first quarter of this year, the number of crimes committed by foreign citizens increased by 15% (from 10,791 to 12,440).
“The main increase is among undocumented migrants. Among the total number of serious crimes committed by migrants, more than half involve the illegal trafficking of narcotic substances. Migrant terrorist activity is on the rise. In the first quarter of 2025, the number of terrorism-related crimes increased by 2.7 times,” the ICR chairman said.
At the end of his speech, Bastrykin pointed at someone in the audience and asked the other participants of the session: “Are these migrants?” Looking into the audience, he raised his hand in a clenched fist, laughed, and exclaimed: “Protest action! Russia will be free!”
ℹ️ It should be noted that many natives of Central Asia who acquire Russian citizenship remain citizens of their countries of origin, as they have not formally renounced their previous citizenship. The authorities of Central Asian states have repeatedly warned their citizens against participating in foreign military conflicts, reminding them that such actions are criminally punishable.
