More than 1,400 African nationals fighting alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, Kyiv says

More than 1,400 African nationals from dozens of countries have joined Russian forces in their war against Ukraine, Kyiv’s foreign minister said on Friday.

Andriy Sabiha said Moscow is enticing Africans to sign contracts that he described as "equivalent to a death sentence."

"Foreign citizens in the Russian army have a sad fate," he wrote on X. "Most of them are immediately sent to the so-called 'meat assaults', where they are quickly killed.”

Ukrainian officials say Russia is trying to bolster its army by recruiting foreign fighters and have urged African governments to warn their citizens of the dangers.

Fake jobs

South Africa said on Thursday it would investigate how 17 of its citizens joined mercenary forces after the men sent distress calls for help to return home.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the South African men aged between 20 and 39 were lured into joining mercenary forces “under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts" and had issued distress calls after becoming trapped in Ukraine. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson said it wasn't clear which side they were fighting for.

Last month, Kenya said that some of its citizens had been detained in military camps across Russia after unknowingly getting caught up in the conflict.

An investigation last year showed how hundreds of women from Africa were duped into working in a drone plant in Tatarstan’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone, about 1,000 kilometres east of Moscow, as Russia faced an urgent wartime labor shortage.

The South African government warned young women in August to be aware of fake adverts pushed by social media influencers in South Africa promising jobs and study opportunities in Russia.

Kyiv has identified 1,436 African nationals from 36 countries but said Sybiha said the total number of Russian recruits could be higher. Most foreign mercenaries in Ukrainian custody had been captured during their first mission, he said.

He said Ukraine would provide more specific information about the countries and regions from which Russia has recruited troops.