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Egyptian authorities have reportedly started applying new regulations for travel to Russia and Ukraine, especially for its nationals between 18 and 35 years old.

The new regulations include a mandatory approval from the security establishment for those who want to travel to the two countries.

They come in the wake of warnings by lawmakers and security experts against the possible recruitment of Egyptian nationals in the militaries of both countries, now embroiled in a destructive war that has taken the lives of tens of thousands of troops on both sides and is proving a major recruitment ground for foreigners.

"The new regulations are important for the protection of Egypt's national security," Ibrahim al-Masri, a member of the Committee on Defence and National Security in the Egyptian parliament, told °®Âþµº.

"Some Egyptian students become prey for temptations, which quickly turns them into mercenaries involved in proxy wars," he added.

He described the new regulations for travel to Russia and Ukraine as "timely", noting that some of those recruited into foreign militaries would return home one day and turn into a national security threat for their country.

The Russian-Ukrainian war has had a on the Egyptian economy and tourist inflows into the Arab country, whose economy is heavily dependent on revenues from the tourism sector.

The same toll has been especially painful to Egypt, given the fact that Russians and Ukrainians used to constitute a of the tourists visiting the Arab country every year.

Egypt also used to get most of its agricultural imports, especially cereals, from the two countries.

The war has just caused Egypt to pay more for its agricultural imports and scramble for other cereal source markets to compensate the loss of the Russian and the Ukrainian markets.

Now, the same war seems to be posing security threats to Egypt, with some Egyptians proving to be fighting on the battlefield alongside the Russian and the Ukrainian armies.

Real danger

The warnings of parliamentarians against Russia and Ukraine turning into a major recruitment ground for Egyptians came after a Ukrainian journalist published a , published last month, in which he interviews an Egyptian national who was taken hostage by Ukrainian troops while fighting alongside the Russian army.

In the video, the Egyptian national says he went to jail in Russia for working illegally to pay his university fees.

In jail, he said, he was tempted to sign a contract to join the Russian army in return for his release and obtaining the Russian citizenship.

Egypt does not apparently have an estimate of the number of its nationals involved in the Russian-Ukrainian war now, or whether this number is large.

Some observers express fears, however, that this number can be in the hundreds or the thousands, given the difficulties some Egyptian students might be facing to pay their study fees in Russian universities and academic institutions.

In 2022, around Egyptians lived, worked and studied in different cities in Russia.

In the same year, the number of Egyptians studying in Russian academic institutions rose to , six times larger than the number of Egyptians studying there in 2018.

Egyptian security analysts point to this group of Egyptians and express fears that they might be prone to falling into the trap of recruitment in the Russian army, especially with some of them being badly in need of money to pay their study fees.

"Russia offers many benefits for foreigners who join its army, because it does not have the necessary human supply to compensate losses in its army," security expert, Gen. Mohamed al-Ghabari, told TNA.

He called for raising awareness among Egyptian youths about the dangers of travel and recruitment in foreign armies.

When the Russian-Ukrainian war erupted three years ago, almost all Egyptian students in Ukraine returned home and were helped by Egyptian authorities to enrol in local universities and academic institutions.

Nevertheless, few Egyptians living or studying in Russia did this. Russian universities even continued to admit Egyptian students, proving to be a financially affordable option for those who wanted to study overseas.

Local security analysts warn, meanwhile, that in joining the militaries in either Russia or Ukraine and getting involved in the war between the two countries, those students constitute a security threat to their own country, particularly after the war comes to an end, and they decide to return home.

Egypt faced a similar problem after 1979 when thousands of its nationals travelled to Afghanistan to join jihadist groups fighting the Soviet occupation, and then decided to return home.

The return of those fighters after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan was a major security problem for Cairo, which imposed strict measures to prevent them from resuming their jihadist activities here.

Having included them on arrival watch lists, Egypt had to detain some of those returning from Afghanistan and closely follow others after their return.

Egypt faces the same problem now, with some of its nationals who were involved in the Syrian civil war preparing to come back.

Hardened by years of fighting, these Egyptians are viewed in Cairo as a serious security threat.

Fine line

Egypt has been trying to stay nonaligned since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, despite attempts by different parties to draw it to one of the warring camps.

This even-handed policy is rooted in Cairo's close relations with both Kyiv and Moscow.

Egypt used to source around Ìýof its wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine.

Apart from investing billions of dollars in Egypt, Russia is also a close military ally of Cairo, providing it with a major chunk of its armaments.

Nonetheless, Egypt finds itself now entangled in the Russian-Ukrainian war, with some of its nationals reportedly being tempted to join the same fight as some of the nationals of other countries do.

The Russian embassy in Cairo did not return calls by TNA for comment on the recruitment of Egyptians within the Russian army.

An , however, confirmed earlier this month the application by Egyptian authorities of new regulations to the travel of Egyptians to Russia.

These regulations, the source said, include more stringent measures for the issuance by Egyptian authorities of travel permissions to Russia.

The same source added that the Russian Ministry of Defence usually handles deaths among soldiers with dual nationalities, including communication with their families back home.

The embassy does not directly deal with this issue, the source said.