Kenya announced on Wednesday that more than 200 of its citizens are currently fighting for Russia against Ukraine and warned that recruitment networks are continuing to target more Kenyans for enlistment.
“Recruitment exercises in Russia have reportedly expanded to include African nationals, including Kenyans,” Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
“Over two hundred Kenyans may have joined the Russian military... recruitment networks are still active in both Kenya and Russia,” it continued, according to Reuters.
The Ministry added that Kenya’s embassy in Moscow has documented cases of injuries among some recruits, who were allegedly offered incentives amounting to $18,000 to cover costs for visas, travel and accommodation.
It came after Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said last week that over 1,400 citizens from 36 African countries were serving in Russia’s invasion force, adding that the Kremlin uses “money, lies and coercion” to recruit foreigners.
“Signing a contract [with Russia] is equivalent to signing a death sentence,” Sybiha said on Nov. 7.
In October, Kenya’s Foreign Ministry warned that its citizens were being “lured” by recruiters from the Kremlin to fight in Ukraine, and that many had ended up detained in military camps on Russian soil.
“The system has been made complicated by the agents who masquerade as working with the Russian Government and use unscrupulous methods including falsified information to lure innocent Kenyans into the battlefield,” it said.
In September, a security operation outside Nairobi rescued 22 Kenyans who, officials said, were being readied for deployment to the front line. One suspect was detained and will face prosecution.
The Ministry said that the “mysterious trafficking syndicate” was deceiving Kenyans by offering them safe, non-combat jobs in Moscow only to dispatch them to fighting hotspots.
Police said that, once recruited, many return home injured or traumatised and in some cases never come home at all.