Keypoints:
- 1,436 Africans reportedly fighting for Russia
- Kyiv warns recruits face deadly ‘meat assaults’
- South Africa, Kenya launch investigations
MORE than 1,400 citizens from 36 African countries are fighting alongside Russian forces in the war against Ukraine, according to Kyiv’s foreign ministry. Ukrainian officials said Moscow had turned to recruiting fighters from abroad to replenish its ranks amid heavy battlefield losses.
Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha made the disclosure on Friday, saying Russia was luring Africans with deceptive military contracts that amounted to what he called ‘a death sentence’.
‘Foreign citizens in the Russian army have a sad fate,’ Sybiha wrote on X. ‘Most of them are immediately sent to the so-called “meat assaults”, where they are quickly killed.’
Governments urged to intervene
Sybiha urged African governments to warn their citizens against signing up for Russian military service. He added that Ukraine had identified 1,436 individuals from across the continent fighting for Russia but said the true number could be higher.
‘We are working to verify the data and will provide details on the specific countries and regions involved,’ he said, noting that most of the captured foreign mercenaries had been detained during their first combat mission.
South Africans among those trapped
In South Africa, the government said it was investigating reports that 17 of its citizens had joined Russian mercenary forces. The men recently sent distress calls seeking help to return home, prompting Pretoria to open an inquiry.
Kenya has also raised concerns. Nairobi said in October that some of its nationals had been detained in Russian military camps after being misled into signing contracts they believed were for civilian work.
Growing evidence of foreign recruitment
Ukraine’s claims follow previous reports by Western intelligence agencies suggesting that Russia has increasingly relied on foreign recruits, including from the Middle East and Asia, to sustain its two-year-old invasion.
African governments have been largely silent on the issue, but analysts say Russia’s outreach reflects both its manpower shortages and its growing influence across the continent through private military networks and security partnerships.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry said it would continue to share intelligence with African states and international partners to discourage citizens from joining what Kyiv described as ‘a war of aggression with fatal consequences’.
