Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence Forms Unit of Russian Minorities

A unit called ‘Nomad,’ composed of representatives of indigenous peoples of Russia, has been integrated into the International Legion of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

The press service of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine reported on this.

The ‘Nomad‘ initiative, established in December 2024, aims to unite the indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation in the fight for their rights and freedoms. Under this initiative, a combat unit was formed. It joined the International Legion under the command of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine on March 3, 2025.

“On Ukraine’s side, the Bashkort Company and the Siberian Battalion are already fighting—units formed by those willing to fight for their freedom with arms in hand. Now, another unit of indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation, ‘Nomad,’ has joined them.”

As the name suggests, its core consists of descendants of great nomads. The Nomad unit already includes Kalmyks, Tatars, Buryats, Bashkirs, and Yakuts, with doors open to all national minorities of present-day Russia—those who wish to put an end to Putin’s “prison of nations,” the statement read.

The Initiative reports on its official accounts on the formation of units of Kalmyks, Tatars and Yakuts, which are staffed by both volunteers and prisoners of war of the Russian Armed Forces who have expressed a desire to join the unit.

At the end of February, representatives of ‘Nomad’ signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Ukrainian project “I Want to Live,” which provided the opportunity for interaction and recruitment of indigenous peoples from the Russian Armed Forces who are currently in Ukrainian captivity.

“The project offers unique capabilities for conducting special operations to safely bring people to Ukrainian territory, not only across the front lines and the Russian-Ukrainian border, but also from third countries,” the leaders of the initiative highlighted.

Currently, the ‘Nomad’ initiative is conducting an active recruitment campaign, which can be joined by filling out a special form here: https://docs.google.com/forms.

In August 2024, the President of Ukraine announced that foreign volunteers from the Ukrainian Defense Forces and their family members could obtain Ukrainian citizenship.

“Every soldier who defends the Ukrainian state, our people, and our independence deserves recognition and full support. This includes, in particular, our Ukrainian legionnaires who, while currently holding citizenship of other nations, have yet to become citizens of Ukraine.

They have earned the right to be our citizens, citizens of Ukraine. It is only fair that this extends to their families, to the families of our heroes,” stated the President.