1,400+ AFRICANS FROM 30+ NATIONS NOW FIGHT FOR RUSSIA IN UKRAINE, KYIV REVEALS

Sat 08 November 2025:

More than 1,400 citizens from three dozen African countries are fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, Kyiv’s foreign minister said on Friday.

Ukrainian officials say Russia has tried to bolster the force attacking its smaller neighbour by recruiting fighters from a variety of countries, sometimes through subterfuge.

Andriy Sybiha said Russia was enticing Africans to sign contracts that he described as “equivalent to … a death sentence”, and urged African governments to warn their citizens.

“Foreign citizens in the Russian army have a sad fate,” he wrote on X. “Most of them are immediately sent to the so-called ‘meat assaults’, where they are quickly killed.”

Sybiha pointed out that foreign citizens in the Russian army face a grim fate: most are immediately sent on so-called “meat assaults,” where they are quickly killed, so the majority of mercenaries do not live more than a month. The minister noted that there are two ways to avoid such a fate.

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“First, do not be recruited and do not sign any documents with Russian authorities… Second, if you’ve already been deployed to the front lines, look for any opportunity to desert and become a prisoner of war,” he said.

South Africa said on Thursday it would investigate how 17 of its citizens joined mercenary forces after the men sent distress calls for help to return home.

And Kenya said last month that some of its citizens had been detained in military camps across Russia after unknowingly getting caught up in the conflict.

Sybiha said the total number of African recruits could be higher than the 1,436 identified, originating from 36 countries, and that most foreign mercenaries in Ukrainian custody had been captured during their first combat mission.

He said Ukraine would provide more specific information about the countries and regions from which Russia has recruited troops.

“We will provide more specific information about the regions and countries from which foreign citizens are recruited by the Russian occupation army and then taken captive. We once again urge all governments to make every effort to disrupt Russian recruitment schemes and to inform their citizens that such activity is illegal,” he stressed.

He called on all African governments to publicly warn their citizens against joining the Russian occupation army.

“Fighting for Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine is illegal, immoral, and violates the UN Charter and international law,” Sybiha emphasized.

He noted that Russia is attempting to recruit people from many countries, not only in Africa.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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