Why Russia is targeting the Philippines with Ukraine mercenary claims

Russia’s accusation that the United States and Germany are recruiting Filipino mercenaries to fight in Ukraine is almost certainly disinformation, analysts say.

Yet the claim exposes how easily Southeast Asian nations can be drawn into the information crossfire of global conflicts – becoming unwitting pawns in great-power narratives that shape opinions far beyond the battlefield.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova alleged that “US representatives” had enlisted Filipinos to join Ukraine’s armed forces in a report published on Thursday by Moscow’s state-owned news agency Tass.

She claimed that preference was given to former Philippine police, security and military personnel, who were then supposedly granted Schengen work visas by Germany before being sent to other European countries such as Poland, which borders Ukraine.

Zakharova further asserted that training took place at a facility in San Fernando, a city in the Philippine province of Pampanga, run by RMS International, a Florida-based security company, with recruits promised monthly compensation of US$5,000.