Ukraine alleges Russia enlists more than 1,700 Africans to fight

Ukraine has accused Russia of using deception to recruit more than 1,700 Africans to join its war effort as conflict erupts. trains in a fifth year.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha made the allegation on Wednesday during a press conference in kyiv with his visiting Ghanaian counterpart, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. He accused Moscow of using fraudulent “schemes” to attract foreign fighters.

“We clearly see that Russia is trying to drag African citizens into a murderous war,” Sybiha said. “According to our data, there are currently more than 1,780 citizens of the African continent fighting in the Russian army.”

The African soldiers come from 36 countries and are part of a trend that Sybiha says is “crucial to countering” the Ukrainian army on the front line.

Russia has denied illegally recruiting African citizens to fight in its armed forces.

However, reports of men from Africa – including South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe – being lured to Russia with promises of jobs and ending up on Ukrainian battlefields have become more frequent in recent months, creating tensions between Moscow and some affected countries.

“Lured and deceived”

Ablakwa said many Africans fighting for Russia are victims of deception, lured onto the dark web with promises of jobs.

“They have no security experience. They have no military experience. They have not been trained,” Ablakwa said. “They were simply lured and deceived, then put on the front lines.”

Ablakwa expressed solidarity with Ukraine and called for a ceasefire to end the war, which celebrated its fourth anniversary on Tuesday.

He also called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to release two Ghanaian prisoners of war captured fighting for Russia.

Ghana will seek to raise “public awareness” of trafficking networks using deception to recruit for Russian forces during its upcoming presidency of the African Union next year, Ablakwa said.

Zelensky confirmed to X that he had “detailed discussions” with the Ghanaian minister “about how Russia is recruiting citizens of Ghana and other African countries to participate in the war against Ukraine, and how we can counter this.”

A day earlier, the South African presidency announced that he had ensured the return to the country of 11 of its nationals who were “lured” into the fight for Russia in Ukraine after having already repatriated four others.

Russia previously admitted to enlisting North Korean soldiers to fight in Ukraine, thousands of whom are estimated to have been killed or injured in combat.

After Ukrainian forces took control of parts of Kursk, a Russian region bordering Ukraine, in 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin » greeted the North Korean soldiers who participated in the campaign to reconquer the territory as being “heroic”.