Russia marks foreign mercenaries with numbers on their skin and equipment, - DIU. PHOTO
Russia uses a system of serial numbers to identify foreign mercenaries recruited into its occupying army. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate (DIU), the numbers are marked on equipment or skin using permanent dyes, and Russian security forces check for these markings, particularly when searching for deserters.
This was reported by Censor.NET, citing the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence.
"Russia, the aggressor state, is branding foreign mercenaries in the occupying army to tighten control and depersonalise them," the Main Intelligence Directorate noted.
Inventory numbers instead of dog tags
Instead of standard metal military identification tags, russia uses a system of sequential ‘inventory numbers’ for foreign mercenaries, which are applied to their equipment or skin.
The markings are applied using permanent dyes — henna or jagua — so they last for weeks and cannot be washed off with soap and water. If a marking fades and becomes barely visible, it is renewed.
There have been reported cases where Russian police have stopped foreigners, including students and migrant workers, to check for these numbers — this is how the security forces of the aggressor state search for deserters.
Concentration camp practices
The system is reminiscent of the practices in Nazi concentration camps, where prisoners were assigned numbers to erase their identity, name and legal status. In effect, the Russian occupying army is turning foreign mercenaries into commodities — numbered assault units.
This crude labelling allows moscow to leave the bodies of killed foreign nationals on the battlefield as ‘unknown’, to classify them as ‘missing in action’ and to evade paying financial compensation to families in Africa and Asia, whilst concealing the true scale of its losses.
As emphasised by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the use of totalitarian methods to strip individuals of their names and identities once again demonstrates russia’s systematic disregard for the norms of international humanitarian law.
"The data obtained is being passed on to foreign partners and law enforcement agencies to be included in the case files of future international tribunals against the military and political leadership of the aggressor state," the Main Intelligence Directorate added.
