African countries urge Kyiv to return citizens who fought for Russia

African countries are urging Ukraine to return their citizens held in prisoner-of-war camps after being captured whilst fighting on Russia's side.

Source: Bloomberg, citing Musalia Mudavadi, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign & Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Kenya

Details: The Kenyan government is negotiating the return of five prisoners, Mudavadi told MPs in Nairobi on Thursday 8 October, adding that President William Ruto had contacted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the matter. Botswana's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Bloomberg earlier that it was seeking the return of one of its citizens from a Ukrainian camp.

African countries said that some of their citizens had been lured to Russia under false pretences and then forced into military service. According to the governments, the men had been promised civilian jobs, such as drivers, security guards or cooks.

Kenya wants the men to be recognised as "victims of international human trafficking" rather than prisoners of war, Mudavadi said. The men "report having been recruited under false promises of employment".

In a statement on Thursday, the Zimbabwean government expressed concern about deceptive cross-border recruitment practices. "Tragically, some recruits have been deployed to active battlefronts in host nations without any prior military training," the statement said, without specifically mentioning Russia or Ukraine.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, Russia has recruited more than 28,000 foreign nationals from 135 countries to fight on its side, more than 5,000 of whom have been killed. The Ukrainian forces have captured fighters from 51 countries.

Ukraine is holding at least 213 foreign nationals as prisoners of war, excluding Russians and North Koreans. Thirty-seven of these are Africans.

Russia has never publicly acknowledged using foreign mercenaries, maintaining its official position that it has sufficient manpower to wage the war.

According to Mudavadi, the youngest Kenyan held in a camp in Ukraine is 23. "The circumstances of their recruitment and conscription are consistent with trafficking in persons," he added.

In a report to parliament, the foreign minister said that around 84 Kenyans had been killed or are missing, while another 34 are receiving medical treatment in Russia. To date, a total of 62 Kenyans who have taken part in the war have been repatriated.

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