Baghdad moves to curb Russian recruitment of Iraqi youth for Ukraine conflict photo

The Government of Iraq will create a dedicated commission to investigate and prevent the recruitment of Iraqi youth for involvement in the war against Ukraine, the Khochu Zhyty project reported.

According to Tarek Kazem, the Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the Republic of Iraq in Ukraine, who spoke during a meeting with the Secretary of Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Brigadier General Dmytro Usov, official Baghdad is increasingly alarmed by cases of Iraqi citizens being recruited into the Russian armed forces.

To confront this issue, Iraq is setting up a separate commission that will work in coordination with the country’s Supreme Judicial Council.

The Iraqi representatives also underscored that national legislation provides severe punishment for mercenarism, including the possibility of life imprisonment.

In addition, Iraqi diplomats reiterated the country’s longstanding commitment to neutrality and its constitutional principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states.

Ukrainian officials, for their part, recalled that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine consistently urges citizens of third countries to abstain, by any available means, from joining the Russian forces.

By Tamilla Hasanova