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

Al Jazeera · Feb 25, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Ghana’s foreign minister says many of the Africans are victims of deception, lured by ⁠the promise of jobs.By ReutersPublished On 25 Feb 2026Ukraine has accused Russia of using deception to recruit more than 1,700 Africans to join its war effort as the conflict drags into a fifth year.Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha made the allegation on Wednesday during a news conference in Kyiv with his visiting Ghanaian counterpart, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. He accused Moscow of using fraudulent “schemes” to lure the foreign fighters.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Four years into the Ukraine war, Moscow sees vindication, not failurelist 2 of 4Kenyan families demand return of loved ones recruited into Russian armylist 3 of 4South Africa secures return of 11 men ‘lured’ into Russia-Ukraine warlist 4 of 4Moscow confirms Russian forces helped repel ISIL attack on Niger airportend of list“We clearly see that Russia is trying to drag African citizens into a deadly war,” Sybiha said. “According to our data, there are currently over 1,780 citizens from the ‌African continent fighting in the Russian army.”The African soldiers hail from 36 countries and are part of a trend that Sybiha said is “crucial to counter” Ukraine’s military on the front lines.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 into Russia with promises of jobs and ending up on Ukrainian battlefields have become more frequent ⁠in recent months, creating tensions between Moscow and ⁠some countries involved.‘Lured and deceived’Ablakwa said many of the Africans fighting for Russia are victims of deception, lured on the dark web with ⁠the promises of employment.“They have no security background. They have no military background. They have not been ⁠trained,” Ablakwa said. “They were just lured and deceived ⁠and then put on the front lines.”Ablakwa expressed solidarity with Ukraine and called for a ceasefire to end the war, which marked its fourth anniversary on Tuesday.He also appealed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to release two Ghanaian prisoners of war captured fighting for Russia.Ghana will seek to raise ‌public ‌awareness about trafficking networks using deception to recruit for the Russian forces during its upcoming presidency of the African Union next year, Ablakwa said.Zelenskyy confirmed on X he had “detailed discussions” with the Ghanaian minister “on how Russia is recruiting citizens of Ghana and other African countries to take part in the war against Ukraine, and on how we can counter this”.A day earlier, South Africa’s Presidency announced it had secured the return home of 11 of its nationals who were “lured” into fighting for Russia in Ukraine after having already repatriated four others.Russia previously acknowledged enlisting soldiers from North Korea to fight in Ukraine, thousands of whom are estimated to have been killed or wounded in battle.After Ukrainian forces in 2024 took control of parts of Kursk, a Russian region on the border with Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed North Korean soldiers who participated in the campaign to retake the territory as “heroic”.