More than 1,000 Kenyans lured to fight for Russia in Ukraine war, report says | Kenya
More than 1,000 Kenyans were persuaded to fight on behalf of Russia in its war with Ukraine, according to an intelligence report presented to the Kenyan parliament highlighting the scale of the Russian operation that brought African men to the front line.
Kimani Ichung’wah, the majority leader of Kenya’s national assembly, told lawmakers that “rogue recruitment agencies and individuals in Kenya” continue to send Kenyan citizens to fight in the conflict, as he read a summary of an investigation by the Kenya National Intelligence Agency.
The figure of more than 1,000 people is a significant increase from the number given in a statement by Kenya’s foreign ministry. in novemberHe said more than 200 Kenyans had traveled to fight in the war.
As Russia sought manpower to continue its occupation, growing numbers of people from African countries, including Kenya, Uganda and South Africa, and elsewhere were drawn to the front lines. More than 1,400 people from 36 African countries are fighting for Russia in Ukraine, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said in November. Many are being held as prisoners of war by Ukraine.
According to the intelligence report, Ichung’wah said employment agencies targeted former military personnel, police officers and civilians in their mid-20s to age 50 who were “desperate for job opportunities abroad.”
The report said employment agencies were seducing Kenyans by promising monthly salaries of around 350,000 shillings (£2,000), bonuses of between 900,000 shillings and 1.2 million shillings and eventually Russian citizenship.
Ichung’wah also accused the employment agencies of collaborating with personnel of various government agencies – the Directorate of Immigration Services, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Anti-Narcotics Unit, and the National Employment Agency – to prevent interference at Nairobi’s international airport.
He also alleged that the agencies worked with staff at the Russian embassy in Kenya and the Kenyan embassy in Moscow to obtain Russian visitor visas for the recruits.
On Thursday, Russia’s embassy in Kenya denied allegations that Kenyans were being recruited to fight in Ukraine, calling the accusation part of a “dangerous and misleading propaganda campaign.”
“The Embassy rejects such allegations in the strongest possible way,” the statement said. Statement about X. “Russian government officials have never been involved in the illegal recruitment of Kenyan citizens into the armed forces of the Russian Federation.”
Ichung’wah noted in the report that recruits are now traveling via Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa as they are being stopped more at the airport.
According to the report, as of February, 39 Kenyans were hospitalized, 30 were repatriated, 28 were missing in action, 35 were in military camps or bases, 89 were on the front lines, one was detained and one completed his contract.
Kenyan foreign minister Musalia Mudavadi is expected to visit Russia next month to discuss the “unacceptable and secret” recruitment of Kenyan citizens.
Four South Africans returned to South Africa from Russia on Wednesday. They were part of a group of 17 South African and two Botswanan men who were allegedly tricked into fighting for Russia by Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the daughter of former South African president Jacob Zuma.
South African foreign minister Ronald Lamola told national broadcaster SABC: “It’s been a difficult process. It continues to be a difficult process for those on the front line, because they were allegedly duped by a private security contractor for the Russian government. And that really complicates the situation because, according to the Russian government, they are not directly incorporated into the Russian military.”
