Kenya’s Foreign Ministry says Russia has been using Kenyan citizens as “cannon fodder” in the war in Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, which cited the Kenyan MFA.
Kenyan officials say they have recorded several cases in which Russian authorities allegedly used Kenyan nationals for military purposes.
The controversy in Kenya escalated after Ukrainian forces captured a Kenyan citizen, Evans, who had been fighting for Russian troops near Vovchansk. According to his testimony, he entered Russia as a tourist and signed what he believed was an employment contract, only to end up in a military camp. He was later sent to the front lines; he said no one told him the “job” involved combat in Ukraine.
Kenya’s Foreign Ministry said there have been multiple similar cases in which its citizens were lured into Russia’s military under false pretenses.
The Kenyan government has opened an investigation into the possible sale of its citizens “effectively into slavery” for Russia’s armed forces.
“This is not the first time Russia has used Africans for its military aims. Recall the mass recruitment of women for ‘work’ in Alabuga, where they were forced to produce strike drones used by Russian forces to attack Ukrainian population centers,” the Center for Countering Disinformation wrote.
