Africans in the Ukraine war: Recruited as cannon fodder

DW News · Feb 27, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Warning: this article contains graphic descriptions of violence More reports are surfacing across the continent of Africans fighting in Russia's war in Ukraine. This week, South Africa's foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, met with the families of 11 South African men recently repatriated after being lured into the conflict. The ministry said it was deeply concerned by the "suspicious circumstances" and predatory recruitment tactics used. Separately, Lamola said two South Africans had died fighting for Russia. In Kenya, a court charged the director of a recruiting company with trafficking the victims to "Russia for the purpose of exploitation by means ‌of deception," Reuters reported the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions as having said. The director, 33, is accused of being a key figure in a network that sent more than 1,000 Kenyans to fight for the Russian army. He has been charged with human trafficking, the state prosecutor said.Family members of Kenyans who joined the Russian army in Ukraine hold photos of their loved ones during a protest calling on the government to urgently repatriate them and their remains Image: Andrew Kasuku/AP Photo/picture alliance Meanwhile, officials in Ghana say they have negotiated the release of two Ghanaian prisoners of war from Ukraine following a meeting between Minister of Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Tricked into fighting in Ukraine But already, family members have been lost. In a church on the outskirts of Uganda's capital, Kampala, Caroline Mukiza, 42, dries her tears as she mourns her husband. After her prayer, Mukiza ambles through the peaceful church garden. She told DW her 46-year-old partner, Edson Kamwesigye, was killed on the front line of Russia's war in Ukraine. Mukiza says her husband had previously worked as a security guard in Iraq and Afghanistan. She knows that in December, Kamwesigye boarded a flight to Moscow for another job as a security guard. But for a long time, Mukiza heard nothing from him. Then, on January 15, she got a message: "He was like: 'People, I need your prayers. We were made to sign contracts of military nature.'" After a short training program, he was sent to the front. "He said, 'Pray for us. We are not sure if we shall make it.'" Tears again roll down Mukiza's cheeks as she tells how, towards the end of January, pictures began circulating on the internet showing a deceased man, whom acquaintances believed was Kamwesigye. They wanted to send the pictures to Mukiza for confirmation. She said, "Please don't send them to me." Across Africa, men have been recruited for jobs in Russia, only to be pressed into military service. In November 2025, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X: "At least 1,436 citizens from 36 African countries are currently fighting in the ranks of Russia's invasion army in Ukraine." He warned African governments that their citizens were being lured to Russia and dying on the front, adding that signing a Russian military contract was "equivalent to a death sentence" and that "most mercenaries do not survive more than a month." Ugandan recruited by Russia: 'Don't fall for the same trap' It has been an open secret that Russia was targeting young men in Africa to fight in Ukraine. In May 2024, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said Russia was paying African mercenaries $2,200 (€1,860) a month to fight on the front. Until now, recruiting methods, or even the men's fates, were largely unknown. But the Ukrainian announcement in November triggered a chain reaction. Families came forward, searching for their missing sons and husbands who had left for Russia. Since then, videos and photos of Africans in Russian military service have circulated on social media. In January, a smartphone video from the Ukrainian front went viral in Uganda. It showed around a dozen African mercenaries sitting in the snow, singing or dancing to song stemming from the Ugandan civil war in the 1980s. Another video, released by the Ukrainian army, showed Ugandan Richard Akantorana explaining that he went to Russia thinking he would be working in a supermarket. He says that when he arrived in Moscow, he was told: "You will enter the Russian army."Caroline Mukiza shows a picture of her deceased husband, middle, one of the few photos he sent from RussiaImage: Isaac Kasamani When he refused to sign, Akantorana says: "At gunpoint, we were told: 'You sign these papers. You have to sign them.'" During his first mission, he surrendered to Ukrainian forces. Akantorana says: "To my fellow Africans, wherever you are, I warn you, don't fall into this trap." But for at least 316 Africans, this warning comes too late. The names of the fallen Africans, whose bodies were recovered by Ukrainians along the front line, form part of a 15-page list in a report published by the research team INPACT.Most of them — almost 100 — are from Cameroon. The list also includes two Ugandan names, but Mukiza's husband's name, Kamwesigye, is not on it.Africans abused on the Russian front in Ukraine Video footage circulating online adds to the suspicion that African citizens are being used as cannon fodder. A particularly disturbing video filmed in an underground bunker shows an African mercenary with a large mine strapped to his stomach. A rifle barrel is aimed at him, and a voice in the background says in Russian: "Run, you will create the opening today." It appears the man is being sent on a suicide mission to surprise the Ukrainians. DW was unable to confirm the authenticity of the video. The INPACT report also suggests that most Africans are used as "cannon fodder," noting that the military service of African recruits "killed in action averages only six months." African recruits fighting in Ukraine: Where's the AU?To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Dubious Russian firms without licenses Uganda's government has opened an investigation. In August 2025, nine men en route to Moscow were stopped at Entebbe International Airport. They confirmed they were hired as guards. Two days later, a Russian was arrested in Kampala who said he worked for a recruiting company called Magnit. Investigators found the firm is not registered in Uganda, even though many recruiting companies operate in the country. Most tout jobs in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia or Qatar, and Uganda's government has agreements with these nations. Uganda has no such agreement with Russia, explains Joshua Kyalimpa, spokesperson for Uganda's Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development. "We have heard of cases of Ugandans involved in [Russia's war in Ukraine], but these ones normally are recruited online through TikTok or things like that," he told DW. "So the role of the ministry has been to discourage and warn Ugandans not to be lured by anybody purporting to recruit workers to go to the conflict-ridden areas of Russia or Ukraine." Mukiza contacted the Russian embassy in Kampala. She shows a letter in which she asks for assistance in recovering her husband's body so that the family can "bury him according to our culture and family tradition." Mukiza says she is yet to receive a response, and doubts she will receive help from her own government. Uganda's Foreign Minister Oryem Henry Okello recently told local television station NTV, "Uganda does not have the capacity to repatriate the bodies of those who die abroad." "I think now I'm hopeless," says Mukiza. She has not told her two children about their father's death. She fears their questions, because the children know that if someone dies, they must be buried. "They'll ask me where he is," Mukiza says quietly and sobs into her handkerchief.South Africans tricked into fighting Russia's war in UkraineTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This article has been adapted from German *Editor's note: If you are suffering from serious emotional strain or suicidal thoughts, do not hesitate to seek professional help. You can find information on where to find such help, no matter where you live in the world, at this website: https://www.befrienders.org/