This reporting project focuses on tracing the journey of a Russian recruiter operating in Cairo, using her presence as an entry point to uncover a transnational recruitment network that targeted young Egyptian men to fight in Ukraine. The investigation begins with a central question about why she was in Egypt and expands into a yearlong field inquiry that tracked her movements, meetings, and methods of operation. This project shows how recruitment activities continued despite the official travel restrictions imposed later by Egyptian authorities.
This investigation reveals how brokers and intermediaries—including Egyptian facilitators—devised alternative routes to circumvent government decisions, either by arranging indirect travel paths or by concealing the military nature of the journey from some recruits. Through extensive data verification and cross-checking from multiple source, this project documents, by name, approximately 313 Egyptians who had been recruited into the Russian army.
In addition, this investigation includes exclusive filmed interviews with Egyptian prisoners held in Ukraine, who spoke about the details of their recruitment and their experiences in combat and detention. Through these testimonies, documents, and verified name lists, this project presents a thoroughly documented account of the Russian army recruitment mechanisms and their hidden pathways, exposing the human cost borne by the recruits and their families.
