Meet the glam Russian former teacher luring foreigners to fight for Putin… then burning their passports if they defy her

A GLAMOROUS former Russian teacher has been accused of luring foreign fighters to the frontline in Ukraine. Polina Alexandrovna Azarnykh, 40, would promise to help them get Russian citizenship if they enlisted in non-combat roles but would savagely turn on her clients once her tricks had been uncovered. Omar, a 26-year-old Syrian construction worker, found Azarnykh through Telegram as she offered “one-year contracts” for “military service” with Russia. A smiling Azarnykh promised Omar and 14 other Syrians struggling to find work after fleeing home to go to Moscow an easy role in the Russian army. He says Azarnykh offered them a monthly salary of around £1,856 as well as a sign-up bonus of £3,711. The former school teacher even personally met up with the men to convince them her offer was real, Omar recalls. read more in Ukraine war The first meeting was at an airport in the capital before they were all whisked away by train to a recruitment centre in Bryansk, western Russia. On the way, Omar claims Azarnykh told them all if they sent her £2,227 from their initial signing on wage then she would get them a safe role in the military away from the frontline. Many of the men gleefully agreed after being told 12 months working for Vladimir Putin would all but guarantee them Russian citizenship. They claim they had to sign contracts which were all in Russian - a language none of the men understood - and had to hand over their passports. Most read in The US Sun Omar, alongside a number of the other young Syrians, were then quickly sent out to a battalion in war-torn Ukraine expecting a safe 365 days. But he claims within just 10 days, he was sent to the frontline to fight with next to no experience or training. Omar, now trying to survive in Ukraine, spoke to the BBC and said: “We were tricked... this woman is a con artist and a liar.” He says he refused to pay anymore cash to Azarnykh the moment he was handed weapons and tried refusing to take part in a mission. His commanders responded by threatening to kill or jail him, Omar said. Speaking to a team of investigators via voice notes, Omar described the horrors on the frontline. He said in a series of messages: “We’re 100% going to die here. “A lot of injuries, a lot of explosions, a lot of shelling. If you don’t die from the explosion, you’ll die from the debris landing on you. “Dead bodies everywhere... I’ve stepped on dead bodies, God forgive me. “If someone dies, I’ve seen it with my own eyes, they put him in a rubbish bag and throw him next to a tree.” It was Azarnykh’s reaction to not being paid that left Omar the most shocked and afraid. He received a video of his passport burning as a woman says in Russian: “It’s burning well.” Omar claims the voice was clearly Azarnykh’s. Nearly 500 similar cases...

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