The city of Moscow will open a military recruitment center for foreign citizens, its mayor announced Tuesday as Russian forces face battlefield setbacks nearly seven months into the invasion of Ukraine.
“The Moscow government will deploy a full-fledged infrastructure in Sakharovo to assist the Russian Defense Ministry in the recruitment of foreign citizens into the military service,” Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
Local authorities “will do everything necessary to make the signing of the contracts as convenient as possible,” the official statement said.
The recruitment center will be opened in the Sakharovo migration center located in Moscow's suburbs which provides services and documents for foreigners.
Earlier on Tuesday, federal lawmakers passed a bill to simplify the process of obtaining Russian citizenship for foreigners who sign a one-year contract with the Russian army.
The draft bill must now be approved by Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, and signed by President Vladimir Putin before it enters into law.
