ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – President of Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council Faiq Zidan and National Security Advisor Qassim al-Araji met on Wednesday to discuss combating the recruitment of Iraqis to fight in Russia, threatening legal action against those who join a foreign army.

The pair discussed the situation of Iraqis fighting in Ukraine, with Zidan warning that Iraq's penal code "punishes with imprisonment anyone who joins, in any way, the armed forces of another country without the approval of the Iraqi government," according to a statement from his office. 

The meeting was also attended by a committee established by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani to combat the phenomenon of Iraqis fighting in Russia. 

Baghdad has reportedly dismantled several networks recruiting Iraqis to join the Russia-Ukraine war, with local media reporting earlier in the week the identification of a six-member network on account of recruiting Iraqis to fight in Russia. 

In an op-ed to The New Region earlier in December, Ukaine's Ambassador to Iraq Ivan Dovhanych cautioned against the phenomenon. "This is exclusively a Russian practice that violates international law and the principles of state sovereignty," Dovhanych wrote, thanking Iraqi authorities for "actively fighting this criminal recruitment." 

"We are aware that Russian diplomats and their apologists are trying to portray the situation as if Iraqis are rushing to fight for Russia due to some special sympathy for that country," the Ukrainian diplomat said, claiming instead that low-income Iraqi youth have been incentivized with "promises of quick, high earnings, land, and citizenship in Russia." 

Russia launched a full invasion of Ukraine four years ago, with the campaign having so far led to over a million estimated casualties on the Russian side alone, as well as hundreds of thousands on the Ukrainian side.

Russia currently occupies approximately one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory, with the issue of land transfers likely to pose a major hitch in any peace accord.