Russia is recruiting unqualified doctors from Africa due to staff shortages due to the war against Ukraine and mobilization.
There is a shortage of 30,000 doctors in the Russian army
As noted in the summary, on April 3, the head of the State Duma of Russia announced a shortage of 30,000 doctors, and the shortage in district hospitals is approximately 50%. This is more than 26.5 thousand in November 2023.
According to British intelligence, the current shortage is explained by the fact that some medical workers work in the private sector, while others have left the country. After the mobilization in September 2022, doctors were directly warned not to leave the country. Up to 2% of Russian doctors and medical workers left Russia to avoid conscription.
According to January 2024 estimates, the number of doctors has decreased by 7,500 over the previous 15 months due to long working hours and low wages.
According to the Center for European Policy Analysis, to solve this problem, Russia is recruiting employees from African countries with limited qualification verification.
The major resource and financial commitments of supporting Russia's war in Ukraine is negatively affecting a number of civilian sectors that serve the Russian population. The number of heathcare professionals in Russia will continue to decrease throughout 2024. Externall sourcing medical staff with limited background checks creates the clinical delivery degradation, the British Ministry of Defence notes.
Russia recruits mercenaries in various countries
In the summer of 2023, it became known that residents of Nepal who came to the Russian Federation to study were being recruited for the war against Ukraine. The main argument for making such a decision is money.
In December, Nepal issued an official statement calling on Moscow to stop recruiting its citizens for the war and to return the bodies of those who had already died.
A mercenary of the Russian army from Somalia, Muhammad Adil, was captured by the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the beginning of January 2024. Online.ua journalists managed to ask the captured foreigner why he came to Russia, how he got into the occupier's army, how much he trained before he got to the front line, and which of his decisions he regrets.
After arriving in the Russian Federation, he got a job at a factory but soon saw an advertisement for the Russian army on the street, and he signed a contract on December 3, 2023.
In less than a month, already on January 4, 2024, he found himself on the front line on the territory of Ukraine.
