Peru requires Russia information about Peruvians recruited for war

Carlos Espa reported that he twice called the Russian ambassador to Peru, Alekséi Ushakov, to demand “concrete responses on the location of Peruvians in Russia.”.

In an interview with Channel N, the minister stated that “it cannot be said that this is a private contract”, referring to agreements signed by Peruvians who have travelled to that country, since the legislation states that any Peruvian who wishes to fight at the service of a foreign force needs government authorisation.

In this sense, Espa said to demand explanations from the Russian Government and ask the ambassador to “give us explanations and the information the Peruvians are waiting for”.

The Peruvian chief of diplomacy also called on the population to “not continue to fall into human trafficking networks”, as happened with more than 400 Peruvians who traveled to Russia with promises of employment in the area of security and eventually recruited to fight on the Russian front.

Last August, the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged that at least 459 Peruvians were enticed by Russia to, allegedly under false pretenses, be recruited and sent to the front.

The same tutelage indicated that at least 11 died after traveling to Russia, while 114 are missing and three are prisoners in the hands of Ukraine.

Last Tuesday, a man identified as Vidal L. was subject to preventive detention for 14 months for alleged human trafficking, for allegedly recruiting a man in the Limeño district of San Martín de Porres to work in Russia, where he was allegedly sent to the war front against his will.

According to the prosecutor, between March and April this year, the defendant will have recruited and facilitated the international displacement of the victim to Russia, after promising him a monthly remuneration of $2,600 and ensuring that the migration process would be free.

The victim even traveled to Russia, where he claims to have been subjected to medical examinations to join the Russian armed forces, sign a contract written in Russian and receive a bank card in which would be deposited $26,000 (EUR 22,641).

At that time, he contacted his family to reveal his situation, which led his sister to file a complaint with the prosecutor and to identify the alleged recruiter.

The minister assured that, so far, he held more than 30 meetings with affected families, sent a special delegate to Moscow to look for information on Peruvians in Russia and contributed to the repatriation of 28 Peruvian citizens.