Russia Exploits Impoverished Africans With False Job Promises to Fuel Ukraine War

The recruitment of poor African men to fight Russia’s war in Ukraine is a cruel system built on deception, racism, and economic desperation. Families are being torn apart by false promises, and lives are being traded away as if they have no value. The story of Kenyan mother Anne Ndarua and her son Francis exposes how deeply wrong this exploitation truly is.

Six months ago, Francis left Kenya believing he had secured a job as an electrical engineer. Instead, he vanished into a nightmare. Anne says she has not heard from him since October and no longer knows if he is alive. In a video sent from an unknown number, Francis warned others: “You’ll end up being taken to the military even if you’ve never served in the military, and you’re taken to the frontline battle. And there are true killings. Many friends have died in the name of money.”

Soon after, another video surfaced showing Francis in uniform with a land mine strapped to his chest while a Russian speaker hurled racist slurs. Anne called it “so traumatizing,” explaining she could not even bring herself to watch. “They lied to them about real jobs and now they’re in war with their lives in danger,” she said, pleading, “I’m appealing to the Kenyan and Russian governments to work together to bring those children home.”

CNN interviews with African recruits reveal a disturbing pattern. Men from Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda were promised civilian jobs and large salaries, only to be forced into military service. One fighter said, “I’ve been here for seven months, and I haven’t been paid a single cent.” Another described being robbed at gunpoint by a Russian soldier: “He forced me to give him my bank card and PIN.”

Most of the men spoke no Russian and signed contracts they could not read. Passports were confiscated, trapping them in a foreign war. Recruits report seeing fellow Africans left to die on battlefields while commanders treated them as disposable.

As one survivor bluntly warned, “So long as you’ve stepped in the Russian military, you escape or you die.” This pipeline of lies preys on poverty and hope, turning vulnerable Black Africans into expendable tools. It is a morally bankrupt scheme that must end now.

Link: CNN