Putin rounds up illegal migrants to send to the frontline in Ukraine as ... trends now

Vladimir Putin is rounding up illegal migrants in Russia to fuel his bloody invasion of Ukraine, just days after four Tajik nationals were charged over the Crocus terror attack in Moscow, with migrant groups left fearing bloody retaliation.

Paddy wagons sporting the National Guard insignia arrived at a vast online shopping warehouse in Elektrostal, Moscow today, where thousands of migrant workers were reportedly forced to show their documents.

Checks were carried out by armed and masked Russian guards and military enlistment officers, before at least 40 people were hauled away from the Wildberries warehouse.

More operations in kind are said to be planned, as Putin seeks more cannon fodder for his ongoing war in Ukraine.

It comes just days after the Crocus City Hall atrocity, which led to the deaths of at least 140 people after gunmen stormed a packed concert venue in the capital and indiscriminately targeted civilians before setting the building on fire.

A number of men from Tajikistan have since been detained in connection to the attacks, which have been claimed by jihadist group Islamic State. 

Friday's horror attack has been linked to a rise in tensions, with the BBC today reporting an increase in beatings and racism aimed at Central Asian migrants - and the embassy of Tajikistan in Russia warning citizens not to leave their homes unless necessary. 

Some of the migrants detained today will reportedly face the choice of jail or expulsion - or fighting in Ukraine for Russia.

Migrants who have been granted Russian citizenship also express fears they may be called up.

'They check who is on the side of the military, and who is evading,' one said. 'Those who evade can be taken away against their will.'

'Whoever resists is beaten with sticks by the riot police,' said another worker.

A further 38 employees of the warehouse will undergo additional checks with law enforcement to 'clarify' information gathered already, the Wildberries company told state-owned news agency RIA.

It came a day after Putin spoke on the urgency of bringing the 'migration sphere ... under control' at a meeting with the board of the Prosecutor General's Office, RIA noted.

Putin reportedly ordered that measures be handled 'professionally and competently' to 'facilitate the adoption of legal, informed and fair decisions'.

Still, critics fear the atrocity in Moscow last week is already leading to discriminatory behaviour towards migrants living in Russia.

In Novgorod region, it has been prohibited to hire foreign workers in the transport sector.

State Duma deputy Dmitry Gusev has also called for a complete 'audit' of all labour migrants living in the country - as well as those who have recently received Russian citizenship.

In Moscow, a 29-year-old woman from Yakutia was surrounded by a hostile mob on the metro and subjected to vile racist abuse. 

'Get the **** out of here,' she was told - even though she is a Russian citizen.

'Russia for Russians, Moscow for Muscovites!

'Africa for blacks, cesspit for Caucasians! Hail Tesak!'

The group reportedly ally with neo-Nazi Maxim Martsinkevich, nicknamed Tesak, meaning Machete, who died from 'asphyxia' in a Russian jail in 2020.

The scared woman said: 'It was 6.30 pm. I was waiting for the train… Very young guys…came up to me.

'One of them, the most active one, took a metal bat out of his jacket and showed me.

'They surrounded me and began to humiliate me… They called me

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