Jakarta. Indonesia's Foreign Ministry said Thursday it would provide protection to any citizens found to have been deceived by overseas job offers that ultimately led to their recruitment into the Russian military and deployment to a conflict zone.

The issue emerged after Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service (FISU) released documents that it said identified at least eight Indonesian citizens recruited into Russia's armed forces.

“If there are Indonesian citizens who are victims, we will of course take the necessary protection measures,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Yvonne Mewengkang said in Jakarta.

The Indonesian government has been verifying the identities and citizenship status of the eight individuals, how they were recruited and the nature of their involvement with the Russian military.

Yvonne also warned that Indonesians who voluntarily join a foreign military without prior permission from the president could lose their Indonesian citizenship.

Under Indonesia's 2006 Citizenship Law, an Indonesian citizen can lose citizenship by joining a foreign military without prior permission from the president.

Yvonne revealed that one Indonesian believed to have joined the Russian military had sent a WhatsApp message to her personal number asking that it be forwarded to Foreign Minister Sugiono.

“There was one WhatsApp message that apparently came from the Indonesian citizen and was sent to my personal number as the ministry spokesperson to be conveyed to the foreign minister,” Yvonne said.

She declined to identify the sender or disclose the contents of the message.

Ukrainian authorities identified the eight Indonesians as Yuda Putra Pratama, Haryanto Dwi Kencana, Erwanda, Ngangun Hudri Fadli, Muhammad Syaripudin, Hadi Maulana, Wahyu Oktavian Iskandar and Helmi Nuraha Hakim.

FISU alleges that the Indonesians were drawn by overseas employment offers promising high salaries, non-combat assignments, an expedited path to Russian citizenship and various social benefits.

The Ukrainian intelligence agency said foreign recruits were often unaware of where they would ultimately be sent. Indonesia has not independently confirmed those claims or established whether each of the eight Indonesians was deceived into joining the Russian military.

The Russian Embassy in Jakarta has denied recruiting Indonesians or other foreign nationals into Russia's armed forces.

Russian Ambassador Sergei Tolchenov has said Russian diplomatic missions in Indonesia were not involved in military recruitment, while acknowledging that some foreigners living or traveling in Russia had chosen to join its armed forces.

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