Are Africans being duped into fighting Russia’s war in Ukraine?
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says his government has received pleas from 17 of its citizens who are trapped fighting as mercenaries in Donbas. The men are pleading for help to return home from the key battleground in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
It wasn’t immediately clear which side the men were fighting on, but at the end of last month Kenya’s Foreign Ministry acknowledged that some of its nationals have also been recruited into Russia’s war machine.
In September, Kenya’s Transnational Organized Crime Unit found 21 Kenyan men who were “awaiting processing to Russia” at apartments close to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. Victims told police they’d agreed to pay thousands of dollars for visas, travel and accommodation.
And Russia also seems to be pulling people into its frontline ranks through deception. Some recruits answer social media ads promising safe military jobs far from the fighting. Others are brought to Russia under false pretences and made to sign contracts they don’t understand.
It’s thought Moscow has lost more than a million soldiers, who it needs to replace. DW’s Max Zander and Felix Maringa report the story of one man who says he was tricked into joining the Russian army.
Chapters:
0:00 Africans fighting for Russia?
7:38 Beverly Ochieng, Control Risks Senior analyst
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