How two Brazilian TikTokers got rich recruiting people for Russia's army
Two Brazilian TikTokers used social media to recruit fellow Brazilians for service in Russia's army, then pocketed the money owed to recruits once they reached the front in Ukraine. After a criminal case was opened against them, both vanished, but an accomplice continues to defraud families of missing soldiers.
A scheme has come to light in Brazil in which two TikTok personalities used social media to recruit fellow Brazilians into service with Russia's armed forces, luring them with promises of various jobs. Once the recruited Brazilians were deployed to the front in Ukraine, the recruiters allegedly pocketed the money owed to them, taking advantage of the fact that the victims did not speak Russian and therefore could not verify their legal and financial situation. Through this scheme, the pair managed to recruit more than ten Brazilians, some of whom later went missing or were killed in combat.
Criminal case and disappearance
After Russia's military prosecutor's office opened a criminal case against the two recruiters, they disappeared from public view. However, an accomplice — a Brazilian-born man who himself previously fought in Donbas and is referred to as a "Donbas veteran" — remains at large. He continues to defraud the relatives of missing soldiers, including by posing as a specialist able to help them.
A specific case
One known case involves 25-year-old São Paulo resident Anderson de Oliveira Ferreira, whose disappearance was reported by a Brazilian news outlet in August 2025. He had traveled to Russia in February of that year, telling his mother he would be working in private security. Over the summer, his mother learned that he had actually gone to fight in Ukraine on Russia's side. A fellow serviceman later told her that Anderson had not returned from a combat mission. He had a five-year-old daughter.
