MOSCOW — Peru asked Russia on Monday, November 9, 2026 for verifiable information about 459 Peruvian nationals who joined Russian forces to fight in Ukraine, including dozens who have been killed or are missing, UPI reported.

Source: UPI, Nov 9, 2026

Peruvian Foreign Minister Carlos Espa made the request in talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow. Espa discussed with Lavrov what AFP called the 'desperate situation' of the 459 compatriots recruited by Russian forces to fight in Ukraine.

Source: AFP, Nov 9, 2026

The Moscow meeting was the first visit by a Peruvian foreign minister to Russia in more than a decade, and the first face-to-face meeting between the two countries' foreign ministers since 2014. Espa pressed for verifiable information on the men's whereabouts and fate — including those killed, wounded, missing or held as prisoners of war — and sought access to the wounded and help repatriating the bodies of the dead.

Source: UPI / AFP reporting, Nov 9-10, 2026

What Russia says — and what Peru alleges

Lavrov maintained that the Peruvians had 'voluntarily signed contracts' with the Russian armed forces and said Russian authorities had already been sharing information with the Peruvian embassy in Moscow. Russia's foreign ministry said Lavrov told Espa that Russia would continue working with Peruvian authorities and respond to specific requests through official channels.

Source: Russian Foreign Ministry account of the talks, Nov 9, 2026

Peru's account is different, and it is an allegation, not a settled finding: Lima has cited reports alleging that Russia recruited foreign nationals through deceptive means — a claim Moscow rejects. The diplomatic push follows an October court ruling in Peru that ordered pretrial detention for a man accused of human trafficking, with prosecutors alleging he recruited Peruvians through false job offers and funnelled them into the conflict.

Source: UPI / AFP reporting, Nov 9, 2026

Background from an earlier investigation: ABC (Spain) reconstructed how recruiters targeted Peruvian men in financial difficulty with promises of security jobs, signing bonuses of up to US$20,000 (yaani kareeb 20 hazaar dollar tak ka bonus) and monthly salaries of more than US$2,000, and tracked the known outcomes of the 459 Peruvians identified by Peru's Foreign Ministry — those still enlisted, missing, dead, captured or evacuated — the Global Investigative Journalism Network reported in its roundup of the investigation.

Source: ABC (Spain) investigation, via GIJN

The talks were not only about Ukraine: the two ministers also discussed expanding trade and economic cooperation and resuming the joint Russian-Peruvian intergovernmental commission, and both countries are Pacific nations taking part in the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China on November 18-19. What happens next: Peru is waiting for Russia to answer specific consular requests with verifiable names and fates; until Moscow publishes or hands over such a list, the 459 figure and each family's unanswered question remain exactly that — unanswered.