Brazilians are being recruited by networks from Ukraine and Russia to fight in the war, with false promises made through the internet. The recruiters approach young Brazilians with attractive offers and misleading information to convince them to participate in the conflict.
The case of Felipe, son of Clarice de Almeida, illustrates this reality. He was 26 years old and worked at a sugarcane mill in Rubinéia, a town of fewer than 4,000 inhabitants on the border between São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul. He earned R$ 2,500 and lived with his mother, who cannot understand her son's decision.
Felipe told his mother he would go to Madrid, in Spain, for a week of vacation. In reality, he was heading to fight in the war in Ukraine, a conflict far removed from the reality of the Brazilian interior where he was raised.
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