A mercenary of Russia from Somalia, Muhammad Adil, was captured by the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the beginning of January 2024.
This happened less than a month after he signed a contract for military service in Russia. Before being captured, Adil managed to get injured and lose his machine gun, but he never understood what he was doing on the territory of Ukraine.
Online.ua journalists managed to ask the captured foreigner about the purpose of his coming to Russia, how he ended up in the enemy's troops, how much he trained before he got to the front line, and which of his decisions he regrets.
How a Somali got to Russia
Introduce yourself, who are you and where are you from?
My name is Muhammad Adil. I am from Somalia, I am 28 years old. I studied computer courses in Somalia. I learned English there. I have a father, a mother, two sisters, a wife and a little daughter.
Everyone knows such a country in East Africa as Somalia, whose capital is Mogadishu. It is a good country, but the people who run it are involved in big corruption schemes. They don't care about the people of this country. Therefore, you will not be able to find a good job, have a good life or future there. Because of this, every person in Somalia dreams of going abroad to help their family.
How did you get to Russia?
I arrived in Russia on August 8 on a tourist visa. A friend of mine from Somalia told me that you can find a good job in Russia. Yes, I came on a tourist visa and I know it's illegal. But it was the only way to find a job.
Why Russia? Because it's the easiest way, it's a country that accepts Somalis. Other countries, European countries do not accept people with Somali passports.
When I got to Russia, I just waited three days, maybe five, and I got a job in a factory. Its owner, a Syrian, paid me very poorly because I was working illegally without a work visa.
How did you become a mercenary of Russia?
When I got a day off, I went to see Moscow and there I saw an announcement that they were recruiting people. Therefore, I turned to them and submitted an application.
They told me that I would study and serve in the Russian troops. I was happy, so I told my family that I would "work" as a soldier in Russia.
The commanders said that I would serve inside Russia. And their soldiers will fight on the front line. That's why they needed people in reserve. So, I was assured that I would serve inside the country. Therefore, I had no idea that I would fight on the front line.
That is, I signed the contract on December 3, 2023 and found myself on the front line (on the territory of Ukraine, — ed.) already on January 4, 2024.
I was told that I had to serve exactly one month to start getting paid. But from the moment of signing the contract with Russia to the day when I was taken prisoner by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, not even a month had passed.
Ukrainian soldiers took me prisoner. I knew nothing about the war. I am a simple person who came from another country to earn a living for my family in Somalia. I don't know anything about strategic things in war: how to hide, how to fight, how to handle weapons, how to do anything. You can say that "he can guard" about me. That is, you can put me at one door and tell me not to let people in, that's all. But fighting, shooting and so on is very difficult for me.
I also lost my weapon due to a drone attack and couldn't get it back. You can say that I was without a weapon for two days. When Ukrainian soldiers captured me, they were shocked that I was already without a weapon. I showed them that I hurt my arm, broke a rib and a tooth because the ceiling fell on me before that.
Russia has mercenaries from Nepal, Egypt, and India
Russian commanders divide us into small groups and simply say: Go, go, go! That's the only English word I've heard them say.
There were more than twenty soldiers like me, including me. They are from Nepal, Egypt, India, Tajikistan. There were other faces.
I don't know where they are from, but I know for sure that they are not from Russia. Nepalese people speak Urdu or Hindi which I don't understand. Egyptians in Arabic, which I don't understand either. Some Hindus speak English but very poorly.
Imagine what I could do if they said, "Adil, you can stay by this door and guard it". But going to war, hiding in garbage, entering destroyed houses, fighting off drones is not my job. I didn't know how to do it. I was not taught this.
They gave us only one hour of training. This cannot be considered the training of good soldiers. Because one or two hours of training is not enough. How to hide behind a wall, how to load and unload a weapon, how to insert a magazine, that's all.
I was in a group with five people from the day they brought us to Ukraine. They said we are in Ukraine... I asked what I was doing here. No one answered me. No one explained anything to me, what to do... Then they told us that we were at the fifth training ground.
When they said "Polygon No. 5", I realised that I was going to war. No one warned me about this. I told them I didn't want to, but they said I had no choice.
I've never had this kind of problem, so I don't know what to do in this situation. We were ordered to get into the car, they took us and left us near a small house, we were given weapons, ammunition and grenades.
Every time I asked the people who were already there before me where they were going, they said they didn't know. I asked the commanders where these people were going, they said they did not know.
They did not give names, only their callsigns. It's hard to remember them, you know, "Valiera" or something like "Edik". I did not understand who was "Valeria", who was "Edik", who was who. And they themselves did not come to us. They would send other soldiers to send us to do this or that.
But as soon as they told me that I was in Ukraine, I realised that I got into a mess that I shouldn't have gotten into.
They promised me a Russian passport and money. Only, I did not ask when I will receive my passport and when I will receive the money, because everything happened very quickly. After that, where I was, there was no Internet to get in touch with other people.
After what happened to me, I really wish I could go back in time to not see those military ads on the street, go back to Somalia and stay there.
