LIMA, May 2, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Public prosecutors in Peru said they were investigating an alleged trafficking network offering fake jobs in Russia to Peruvians, before forcing them to fight in Moscow's war on Ukraine.

Individuals, including former military personnel and police officers, were allegedly recruited through social media with deceptive offers of well-paid work as security agents and other jobs in Russia, the attorney general's office said in a statement.

According to information provided to the police, "victims were reportedly taken to Russia and, once on foreign soil, forced to take part in combat operations in the context of the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine," it said.

The prosecutor immediately initiated an investigation into the alleged crimes of "human trafficking" and "aggravated human trafficking," it added.

Thirteen Peruvians have died in the Russia-Ukraine war, a lawyer for the victims' families, Percy Salinas, told TV channel N.

Promised monthly salaries of between $2,000 and $3,000 had lured around 600 Peruvians to Russia since October, according to Salinas.

The Peruvian foreign ministry said it had asked the Russian embassy to provide information about the whereabouts of Peruvians who had "decided to render services in the armed forces" of Russia.

In a statement released Thursday, Moscow's embassy in Lima acknowledged that Peruvians had signed contracts to join the Russian armed forces.

But the embassy said the concerned individuals did so voluntarily and legally.