Cannon fodder: Kenyans duped into fighting and dying for Russia

In the early months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reports emerged that the Kremlin’s forces were supplementing their ranks not only with Russian reservists but also with foreigners, some volunteers, but many apparently enticed under false pretences.

But President Putin denied claims his country was mobilising foreign soldiers to fight in Ukraine. 

Kremlin’s denials have, however, been eroded by evidence showing that families in Asia and Africa are living on the edge as their kin fight and die in a war that is not theirs.

The Standard Investigation Unit can reveal how dozens of Kenyans have been recruited by shadowy agencies, some knowingly, others unknowingly, under the guise of tourist visas. Most of them are young men aged between 20 and 30.

While some ordinary Kenyans have shared accounts of how they ended up working for Russia, the recruiters have also targeted former police and military officers.

Some independent Russian media outlets like Vazhnyye Istorii have reported that thousands of foreign mercenaries were enlisted between April 2023 and May 2024 from more than 40 countries.

African recruits were lured by promises of lucrative jobs, better education or even citizenship.

Recruits also come from Nepal, Sri Lanka, China, India, Serbia, Cuba and Latvia. From former Soviet states, they include citizens of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Moldova.

In September, in what Kenyan police authorities described as an intelligence-led operation, law enforcers busted a recruitment syndicate at a residential apartment in the Athi River, on the outskirts of Nairobi.

During the operation, more than 20 people were paraded in what police said was a human trafficking ring recruiting young Kenyans to fight for Russia in its war.

The Standard has been speaking to a former GSU officer currently stationed at a Russian military camp in Belgorod City, on the border of Russia and Ukraine.

The ex-officer says he and several former military and police colleagues were told by their Russian recruiters that they were eligible because they were already trained.

“At the military camps, they gave us a rifle and ammunition and showed us targets to fire at. There was no time for basics,” he said.

Upon landing in St. Petersburg, he was received by an agent and transported by train to a camp in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories. He walked past barracks full of war casualties, men with missing limbs, gouged eyes, and others on crutches.

“It can be really traumatizing, even for some of us who know a thing or two about war,” he said.

They were later issued special visas allowing them to move freely across Russia and Belarus. From there, they came under the command of Russia’s military intelligence at the main headquarters.

“They processed our contracts and even gave us special force numbers,” he recalled.

From St. Petersburg they took another journey that lasted 36 hours by train to a camp located in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories. After training, recruits were dispatched to different battalions.

“I was posted to Belgorod, on the border of Russia and Ukraine,” he said.
Some new recruits, including Kenyans, were sent to the frontlines, while he remained at the unit headquarters performing military fatigue duties.

The ex-officer says he received an upfront payment and was promised a monthly salary of Sh360,000, paid in rubles. Once he signed, he said, “there was no going back.”

Some security experts, like Byron Adera, read desperation on the part of the Russian authorities.

“The rate of carnage has been high, and even within Russia, there is some level of internal dissent from the citizenry regarding the direction things are taking,” explains Adera.

The number of Kenyans currently fighting on Russia’s frontlines remains unclear, but it is believed to be significant.

Security analyst George Musamali says such ambiguity creates a loophole that recruiters exploit.

“These recruits leave the country on tourist or student visas, which blurs the line of accountability,” explains Musamali.

In a video said to have been released by the Ukrainian army a few week ago, Evans Kibet, a 36-year-old Kenyan athlete, gave a glimpse into what it means to fight in the Russian war.

The aspiring long-distance runner revealed how his world was turned upside down when he was tricked into joining the Russian army under the pretext of being offered athletics opportunities abroad.

A Tanzanian student, Nemes Raymond Tarimo was at the same time reported to have joined the Wagner mercenary group in August 2022 but ended tragically when he was killed near Bakhmut two months later.

“It should worry anyone that these recruits are taken to the frontlines without proper training or sufficient briefing on war mechanisms. It’s simply designed to place them as fodder, where they get killed without anyone being held accountable,” observes Musamali.

According to Adera, the buck stops with those in positions of authority to fix things for the populace.

“We have to create good working conditions for our people, conditions that will allow the youth, especially, to pursue their aspirations here at home,” he observes.

Emmanuel (not his real name) left Kenya on a tourist visa in 2023 after a recruitment agency promised him a lucrative job abroad but he cheated a death trap.

“They told me there were many professional jobs in Russia and since I was a computer scientist and a driver, I thought I’d easily find work. I had been out of formal employment for almost four years,” he says.

When he arrived in St. Petersburg, reality struck.

“They took us to a military camp and told us we had been recruited as soldiers. I had never held a gun in my life. I couldn’t imagine myself in a war zone and so I bolted out.”

But freedom came at a cost.

“They gave me two options: sign up, or pay all expenses incurred to process my trip to Russia. I chose to pay, even though I had no money.”

He reached out to relatives in Kenya, who helped raise funds for his release.

“The agents were disappointed but told me I was lucky. Many who land in Russia never get the luxury to choose, they are forced to sign up,” Emmanuel recalls.

According to Musamali, the art of war is sometimes designed to place rookies on the frontlines.

“They don’t want to expose their most experienced and specialised units, so they place the non-starters on the frontlines and sadly, this is where most of those from African countries end up,” noted Musamali.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022  triggering the deadliest war in Europe since World War 2.