KYIV (The Thursday Times) — Ukraine says it has captured its first prisoner of war from Indonesia, a 49-year-old man from Java who was sent into a Russian assault in the south of the country, amid what Kyiv describes as a sharp rise in Russian recruitment from the south-east Asian nation.
The man, identified as Sukamto Ayok from Blitar in East Java, reached Ukrainian-held territory after his unit came under drone attack in the Zaporizhzhia region and was taken prisoner, according to I Want to Live, a Ukrainian government project that helps Russian troops and foreign recruits surrender.
Promised a building job
The project said Ayok had been promised civilian construction work in Russia by a former classmate in May. He arrived in Moscow on July 22 and signed what he believed was a one-year construction contract, but it was in fact an agreement with the Russian defence ministry, the project said.
He learned he had been enlisted on July 30, while being taken to Russian-occupied Donetsk, and was sent into an assault without military training, according to the project. It also alleged that he and another Indonesian were detained after trying to escape. None of these claims could be independently verified.
A sharp rise in recruits
According to the project, Russia recruited about 283 Indonesians in the first nine months of this year, compared with fewer than 10 in the previous three years. The Russian embassy in Jakarta did not immediately respond to questions about the figures.
Earlier this month, Indonesia asked Russia to take all necessary steps to make sure no Indonesians were recruited into its military, after the reported death in October of an Indonesian national serving with Russian forces. A foreign ministry spokesperson said Jakarta was particularly concerned about recruitment practices that could amount to human trafficking.
Days later, Indonesian police said they had identified a trafficking network that used social media and messaging apps to advertise well-paid jobs in logistics, border security, and construction in Russia, only for some applicants to be pushed into military contracts once they arrived.
Ukrainian officials met Indonesia’s ambassador to Ukraine in October and offered to allow a consular visit to Ayok, the project said.
Russia has drawn recruits from across Asia, Africa, and Latin America as it tries to sustain the war without a wider mobilisation at home. Kenya’s intelligence services reported in February that more than 1,000 Kenyans had been lured to fight for Russia.
The capture was announced as US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi ended with Russia and Ukraine agreeing in principle on a large prisoner exchange.
