The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine has identified another foreign mercenary who fought alongside russian occupation forces and was eliminated in Ukraine — Indonesian citizen Taufiq Muhammad, born on May 22, 1978, in the city of Sorong.

Before traveling to russia, Taufiq lived in Surabaya, on the island of Java. Back home, he worked as a taxi driver in Jakarta and as a manager at an agricultural company. He also had work experience in the United States and spoke English.

Russian recruiters found Taufiq through a résumé he had submitted in response to a job offer. He likely believed promises of “easy money” and traveled to moscow. In reality, he became yet another victim of russia’s deceptive scheme to recruit foreigners for its criminal war.

On April 19, 2026, Taufiq signed a contract with russian occupation forces in Korolyov, near moscow. The term of service was one year — a standard arrangement for foreigners recruited by russia to fight against Ukraine and used as “disposable” infantry.

The mercenary was assigned to serve as a machine gunner and sent to a training center near voronezh. He spent just a week and a half there. By early May, the Indonesian national had already been deployed to temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory.

Taufiq died almost immediately, during his very first battle. This happened as russian forces attempted to advance from the settlement of Zelena Dolyna in the Donetsk region toward Novoselivka and Drobysheve.

The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine regularly publishes evidence of russia’s recruitment of foreign mercenaries as cannon fodder for its criminal war.

More information about the schemes used by the aggressor state to illegally recruit mercenaries in countries around the world is available on the stoprussianrecruiters.org platform.

Every foreigner serving in russia’s occupation army who has found themselves in trouble can save their life by surrendering through the Telegram bot of the “I Want to Live” project: https://t.me/kak_sdatsya_bot.