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In TikTok and Telegram videos, people who illegally entered the EU state their names and thank a certain man, addressing him as “Abu Radad,” “Abu Redad,” or “Abu Harbi” (“father of war”). Apparently, they are referring to one and the same person.
The Insider established that this network is run by Yemeni smuggler Abu Radad. According to a report by the Center for the Study of Democracy (opens pdf), since at least 2021 Radad has specialized in organizing instrumentalized influxes of Arab and African refugees to the borders of EU countries and the United Kingdom, using messenger apps and social media channels to attract prospective clients.
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Organized groups of illegal migrants from Africa and the Middle East often enter the European Union through the Baltic states using thoroughly organized routes. First, people from a range of countries — Syria, Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, Chad, Uganda, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Morocco — are invited to Russia under the pretext of work or tourism. Moscow’s Foreign Ministry issues them visas, and then, under the control of FSB officers, they are transferred through Belarus to the EU border.
The Insider identified several drivers who transported migrants from Moscow and St. Petersburg through Belarus to the edge of Europe. One of them, Tajikistan-born Buned Bakhtiyerov, goes by the name of Ali. Another driver, who uses the pseudonym Max Paron, turned out to be Russian national Vyacheslav Borisov; his contact information was saved in the phone of an Arab illegal migrant as “Andrey Minsk” or “Max Moscow–Minsk.”
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Inside the EU, Russian-speaking drivers are recruited in Telegram groups with names like Work in the EU, Work in Poland, International Transportation, Drivers in the EU, Black taxi, Transportation Europe, Dark logistic, and DarkDrive, and also through ads posted in general-purpose aggregator groups on behalf of Abu Bakh, Abu Sakhr, Raji, Ali, Takata, Kalak, and other seemingly Arabic names.
First, the driver talks to a contact. Then, after some brief questioning, he is redirected to a “manager” for a more detailed interview involving a discussion of “business trip” options.
Ads are published every day. If a driver does not have a car, a rental is booked. On average, drivers are promised 1,000 to 10,000 euros per trip, depending on the number of illegal migrants being moved. Possible routes include going through the forest to Riga, transit to the Polish–German border, and to Finland by ferry via Estonia.
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Russian and Belarusian border guards show no interest in groups of people from Africa and the Middle East moving toward the European Union border, allowing guides to bring the migrants to the border crossing point without much trouble. The smugglers forbid them from using mobile phones, knowing that EU border services can locate them via GSM signals.
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On the Russian side, waves of illegal migration are coordinated by FSB officers themselves. The Insider discovered and identified a member of the FSB Border Service in the Republic of Karelia — Magdeburg native Maxim Kazydub — who was a participant in closed communication channels and groups involved in smuggling illegal migrants into the European Union, one of which had been part of the effort that prompted Finland to strengthen its border in 2023. On social media, Kazydub appears as “Dmitry Titov,” “Max Koza,” “Sanek Orlov,” and “Max Karelsky.”
For example, under the “Dmitry Titov” pseudonym, Kazydub monitored the activity of participants in the Telegram group Kovcheg Finlandia (Ark of Finland), where anti-war Russians and legal asylum seekers from Russia discuss pressing issues, such as how to arrange for relatives to get into Europe.
After Finland fully closed its border with Russia, the same FSB officer turned up in closed WhatsApp groups tied to Abu Radad and Abu Harbi — chats that can only be joined via an invitation link. Inside, members can coordinate the movement of migrants in the border zone on the Russian and Belarusian side.
Kadzydub’s actions cannot be a secret to his superiors. In 2024, he was awarded a certificate of honor from the government of the Republic of Karelia for services in ensuring border protection — the same border he indirectly helped close off after Finland actively responded to the FSB’s instrumental influx in late 2023.
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