‘You escape, or you die’: African men say Russia duped them into fighting in Ukraine

CNN’s Larry Madowo has uncovered the recruitment tactics involved with enticing African men to fight in Ukraine for the Russian army.

CNN reviewed hundreds of chats on messaging apps, military contracts, visas, flights and hotel bookings, as well as gathering first-hand accounts from African fighters in Ukraine and to those who managed to escape back home, to understand just how Russia entices African men to bolster its ranks.  

Several African governments, including Botswana, Uganda, South Africa and Kenya, have acknowledged the scale of the problem.

Local media have detailed how citizens were duped into becoming mercenaries for Russia in Ukraine and officials have warned others against following suit.

CNN spoke with 12 African fighters still in Ukraine – from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda – who said they were offered civilian jobs such as drivers or security guards. Most said they were promised a signing bonus of $13,000, monthly salaries as high as $3,500, and Russian citizenship at the end of their service.

But when they landed in Russia, they say they were forced into the military and given little training before being deployed to the front line. They were made to sign military service contracts in Russian without lawyers or translation provided, they said. Some had their passports confiscated, effectively making it impossible to flee.

In December, someone sent Anne Ndarua a video of her son, Francis Ndung’u Ndarua, warning other Africans not to travel to Russia for any job offers. “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,” he says in the video, sent from an unknown Kenyan number. “Many friends have died in the name of money.”

About a week later, a disturbing video of Francis went viral on social media. In uniform, with a land mine strapped to his chest, he appears scared as a Russian speaker, using racist slurs, says he will be used as a “can-opener” to breach Ukrainian army positions.

Russia’s Defense Ministry and Foreign Ministry did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on allegations that some African recruits were misled or coerced into fighting.