A Yemeni man in his twenties has been killed while fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, according to local sources.

The sources, who wished to remain anonymous, told The New Arab's sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the Issam Ali al-Mashouli, from Al Wazi'iyah district in Taiz governorate, was killed while serving with Russian forces in Ukraine.

They added that al-Mashouli previously served with Yemeni forces stationed along the Yemeni-Saudi border, before he was recruited by Houthi middlemen active in enlisting Yemenis to fight on behalf of Russian forces.

In March this year, the US Treasury Department uncovered a human trafficking operation carried out by Houthi-linked groups who recruited Yemeni civilians under false pretences to fight alongside Russia’s forces in Ukraine.

This scheme was reportedly carried out through the Al-Jabri General Trading And Investment Company, and provided the Houthis with additional funds for their military operations.

Last November, investigative researcher Lou Osborne from the Swiss organisation Impact, revealed that contracts between Houthi mercenaries and the Russian army were being arranged through a company based in Oman, connected to pro-Houthi Yemeni parliamentarian and businessman Abdulwali Abdoh Hasan Al-Jabri.

Osborne said that Jabri was “involved in arms trading between Russia and the Houthis,” and pointed out that some fighters were being recruited in the Jordanian capital Amman “while working in restaurants”, despite lacking any real military experience.

According to Osborne, potential Yemeni recruits were being lured with promises of earning $10,000 upfront and $2,500 monthly, but upon their entry into the Russian army were paid only around $260 a month. She put their number at several hundred.

The deaths of a number of Yemenis fighting alongside Russian forces have been reported, with a number of young Yemenis inside Russia - mostly students - being recruited to join the army, in addition to those brought from Yemen through recruitment companies led by Jabri.

Yemenis who have died fighting with Russian forces in Ukraine include former diplomat Ahmed al-Sahmi in 2023 and student Asaad al-Kanani in 2024.

Sahmi had served as a diplomat at Yemen’s embassy in Moscow until 2017, before marrying a Russian woman, obtaining citizenship, and signing a contract with a Russian military company.

Kanani, from Taiz governorate, was killed on the Luhansk front in eastern Ukraine after joining the Russian military campaign after gaining citizenship.

The first reported Yemeni casualty was Zubair Mohammed Ziyad from Ibb governorate in late 2023.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many Yemenis who obtained Russian citizenship have been pressed into military service.

While some have managed to leave Russia after being called up for military training ahead of deployment to Ukraine, others who remained in Russia have been drafted into the Russian forces and forced onto the front lines.