{"id":18340,"date":"2026-10-27T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/?p=18340"},"modified":"2026-10-27T15:12:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T20:12:49","slug":"panamanian-foreign-ministry-champions-protection-for-citizens-entangled-in-russia-ukraine-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/crime-safety\/panamanian-foreign-ministry-champions-protection-for-citizens-entangled-in-russia-ukraine-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Panamanian Foreign Ministry Champions Protection for Citizens Entangled in Russia-Ukraine War"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Panamanian authorities are intensifying diplomatic efforts to locate and repatriate citizens who continue traveling to the <a href=\"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/news\/russian-ambassador-warning-puts-8000-ships-on-high-alert-panama-vessels-included\/\" rel=\"internal\">Russia Ukraine war<\/a> zone despite repeated government warnings. Foreign Minister Javier Mart\u00ednez Acha confirmed that two more Panamanians flew to Moscow just last week, ignoring official alerts about misleading military recruitment contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/mire.gob.pa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">foreign ministry<\/a> has sent numerous formal communications to both Russian and Ukrainian diplomatic channels seeking information about <a href=\"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/news\/panamanian-volunteer-ukraine-russia-war-denies-recruitment\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/news\/panamanian-volunteer-ukraine-russia-war-denies-recruitment\/\">Panamanians <\/a>who <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Foreign_fighters_in_the_Russo-Ukrainian_War\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">enlisted in the conflict<\/a>. Some citizens have already been successfully evacuated from Moscow and Kiev back to Panama, according to the minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/De94vTfvgY1\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"><div style=\"padding:16px;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/De94vTfvgY1\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <div style=\" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\"> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;\"><svg width=\"50px\" height=\"50px\" viewBox=\"0 0 60 60\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\"><g stroke=\"none\" stroke-width=\"1\" fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><g transform=\"translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)\" fill=\"#000000\"><g><path d=\"M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631\"><\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div><div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\"> <div style=\" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;\">Ver esta publicaci\u00f3n en Instagram<\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\"><div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: auto;\"> <div style=\" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div><\/div><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/a><p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/De94vTfvgY1\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Una publicaci\u00f3n compartida por Telemetro Reporta (@treporta)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Diplomatic Pressure and Russia-Ukraine War Challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mart\u00ednez Acha described a daily reporting process tracking Panamanians caught in the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Russo-Ukrainian_War\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">war zone<\/a>. &#8220;Panama has advanced as far as democracy and diplomacy allow,&#8221; he said, explaining that diplomatic notes have been dispatched to both capitals requesting access to citizens who voluntarily joined military ranks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We have sent many letters to the Russian foreign ministry and the Ukrainian foreign ministry with the purpose of linking Panamanians who, in one way or another, agreed to enlist&#8221; [Translated from Spanish]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The minister emphasized that evacuation operations have succeeded in bringing some individuals home from both Moscow and Kiev. But the flow of new recruits continues despite public awareness campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">El canciller de la Rep\u00fablica, Javier Mart\u00ednez Acha, se refiri\u00f3 a los paname\u00f1os que se encuentran en las zonas del conflicto entre Rusia y Ucrania: \u201cPanam\u00e1 ha avanzado lo que permite la democracia y la diplomacia. Hemos cursado muchas cartas a la canciller\u00eda rusa y la canciller\u00eda ucraniana con el prop\u00f3sito de que vinculen a los paname\u00f1os que, de una forma u otra, accedieron a alistarse. Cr\u00e9anme que el reporte es diario, hemos podido trasladar a algunos ciudadanos desde Mosc\u00fa y desde Kiev a Panam\u00e1. La semana pasada para que sepan dos nuevos ciudadanos fueron a Mosc\u00fa, a pesar de todas las advertencias, alertas, etc\u00e9tera, siguen cayendo en este tipo de contrataciones que no dicen la realidad de lo que van a enfrentar una vez lleguen all\u00e1\u201d.<\/p>&mdash; Telemetro Reporta (@TReporta) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TReporta\/status\/2114780437302190422?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 26, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">War Recruitment Schemes Target Vulnerable Panamanians Citizens <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials warn that recruitment offers fail to disclose the true nature of what awaits volunteers once they arrive in the conflict zone. The two most recent cases highlight how warnings and alerts have not deterred citizens from accepting these contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Believe me, the report is daily. We have been able to transfer some citizens from Moscow and from Kiev to Panama. Last week, so you know, two new citizens went to Moscow, despite all the warnings, alerts, etcetera, they keep falling for these types of contracts that don&#8217;t state the reality of what they will face once they arrive there&#8221; [Translated from Spanish]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The foreign ministry continues monitoring the situation closely as the Russia Ukraine war creates ongoing risks for Panamanian nationals abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ukrainian-war-damage-1200x800-1200x800-1.webp\" alt=\"ukrainian war damage 1200x800\" class=\"wp-image-17263\" srcset=\"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ukrainian-war-damage-1200x800-1200x800-1.webp 1200w, https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ukrainian-war-damage-1200x800-1200x800-1-150x100.webp 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Foreign Minister Javier Mart\u00ednez Acha confirmed that two more Panamanians flew to Moscow just last week, ignoring official alerts about misleading military recruitment contracts. Ukrainian war damages By EFE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How False Job Promises Dragged Panamanians to the War<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A major scandal has erupted in Panama over the recruitment of citizens to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war, sparking widespread public outrage. Shocking reports reveal that deceptive networks are exploiting severe economic hardship and high unemployment, luring vulnerable Panamanians through false promises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under the guise of lucrative job offers abroad\u2014often disguised as positions in private security, construction, or logistics\u2014victims are trapped into signing military contracts and sent directly to the frontlines without proper training or consent. This deliberate exploitation of financial desperation has triggered intense backlash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> Citizens and legal analysts are now demanding immediate action from the Foreign Ministry and judicial authorities to investigate these predatory rings, rescue stranded Panamanians, and bring those responsible to justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5AIwb9Xtvl0?cc_lang_pref=en&#038;hl=en&#038;cc_load_policy=1\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Panamanian authorities are intensifying diplomatic efforts to locate and repatriate citizens who continue traveling to the Russia Ukraine war zone despite repeated government warnings. Foreign Minister Javier Mart\u00ednez Acha confirmed that two more Panamanians flew to Moscow just last week, ignoring official alerts about misleading military recruitment contracts. The foreign ministry has sent numerous formal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31,87,29],"tags":[129,7671,50,5938,5732],"class_list":["post-18340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-crime-safety","category-featured","category-politics-government","tag-diplomacy","tag-diplomatic-efforts","tag-panama","tag-panamanian-citizens","tag-recruitment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18340"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18359,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18340\/revisions\/18359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}