By The Rio Times | Created at 2026-10-03 16:46:43 | Updated at 2026-10-03 18:08:49
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DIPLOMACY · DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Key Facts
- —The country The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti and takes no part in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
- —What happened On Thursday 1 October a Russian embassy attaché told protesting families the mission would investigate, Listín Diario reported. No written embassy statement had appeared by 3 October.
- —Who is involved A rights group said on 1 October that about 150 Dominicans were lured to Russia, 50 of them from Haina. Officials have not confirmed that figure.
- —What it means for you On 25 September the foreign ministry urged anyone offered work in Russia online to check the employer, the offer and the contract before travelling.
- —Still open Whether the embassy opens a formal inquiry, how many Dominicans are at the front, and whether Russia will let them leave.
A Russian diplomat says his embassy will look into reports of Dominicans recruited to fight in Ukraine, Listín Diario reported. The attaché, Alexander Agafonov, spoke on Thursday 1 October while families protested outside the embassy.
He said the mission had no earlier reports and would start from documents handed over by a human rights group. No written statement had appeared on the embassy’s website by Saturday 3 October, and other Dominican outlets have largely repeated Listín’s account.
What the embassy official said
Agafonov received documents from Carlos Sánchez Díaz of the Dominican Committee for Human Rights, a non-governmental group. He gave Sánchez his contact details and offered a meeting once the embassy has official information, according to Listín.
The paper describes a pledge to investigate, not a formal inquiry with terms or a deadline. The embassy’s own website names Alexey Seredin as Russia’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic.
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Families say about 150 men are involved
Sánchez puts the number of Dominicans recruited and taken to Russia at about 150. Roughly 50 are from Haina, an industrial town near the capital, and others from San José de Ocoa and Greater Santo Domingo.
He told Listín the men answered online offers of work in Panama or cultural exchanges at Russian museums. They travelled via Panama or Istanbul to Kazan, he said, and reached the front after about two weeks of training.
El Día reported that some were promised one million roubles a month, which the paper put at about US$12,000. Relatives told Listín they can speak to the men only on Sundays, for 10 to 20 minutes.
What the Dominican government is doing
President Luis Abinader said on Friday 2 October that the foreign ministry, known as Mirex, is following the complaints. The ministry is working “to know the situation in detail,” he said, according to El Nuevo Diario.
On 25 September Mirex warned citizens about job offers in Russia and promised consular help to bring vulnerable people home. That day Abinader put those who answered at perhaps fewer than 20 (see Dominican Republic Warns of Russian Job Offers as Recruits Reach the Front).
The rights group says it has filed evidence with the Attorney General’s office, which runs the national prosecution service. No response from prosecutors had been reported by 3 October.
A diplomatic channel is now open
The attaché’s remarks give families a direct line to Russian diplomats, alongside the government’s own contacts. In September, Foreign Minister Víctor Bisonó raised the job offers with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, at the UN General Assembly.
In Panama, three Dominicans are detained over recruiting Panamanians for Russia, Acento reported, citing Panamanian prosecutors. Similar cases reach across the region, as in Ukraine Says Argentine Prisoner of War Answered a Facebook Job Advert.
What Is Not Yet Known
It is unclear whether the embassy will open a formal inquiry, or share any findings with Dominican authorities or families. No comment from Moscow on the Dominican cases had been reported by 3 October.
How many Dominicans recruited by these networks are now at the front, and whether any have died, remains unconfirmed. It is also unknown whether Russia will release men who say they were deceived.
Sources: Remolacha, 3 October 2026 (republishing Listín Diario); Listín Diario, 1 October and 2 October 2026; Hoy, El Día and Teleuniverso, 1 October 2026; El Nuevo Diario, 2 October 2026; Acento, 1 October 2026; Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Dominican Republic, news page, checked 3 October 2026.
This article was drafted with automated assistance and reviewed before publication. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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