Soldiers from Ukraine’s 57th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade say they captured a 36-year-old Kenyan track-and-field athlete named Evans, who says he was offered “work” in Russia.
The Kenyan was taken prisoner on the Vovchansk axis. He and three other Kenyans had been offered a trip to Russia as tourists by his sports agent, said the 57th Brigade in a Facebook post.
He spent two weeks in Russia, but a day before he was due to return to Kenya, the man accompanying the group asked what he thought of the country and whether he wanted to stay. Evans said he did not want to return to Kenya.
By that time, his visa had expired, and the man said he had a job for him. That evening, after signing documents in Russian, the Kenyan learned he would be “working” as a soldier.
“Before the signatures, he took my passport and phone. He promised to return my belongings; then other people came, told me to get into a car, and I was driven for about seven hours. Soon I was in a military camp,” he said.
Refusal wasn’t an option, he said, claiming Russians threatened him with execution. Evans said he had never served in the army and did not want to be a soldier. The occupying forces gave him the call sign “Ivan.”
He received just a week of training, learning only the basics of handling an assault rifle. According to him, there were several foreigners in his unit. After training, he fled en route to his first combat mission and wandered for two days in the forests near Vovchansk.
Evans is now asking not to be exchanged for Russian prisoners and believes he would be killed if returned to Russia.
The Wall Street Journal has reported on a secret channel for prisoner exchanges between Ukraine and Russia.
