Charles Ojiambo Mutoka, 72, holds portraits of his son Oscar, who he learned was killed in August, in Nairobi on Jan. 27.TONY KARUMBA/Getty Images
Despite a death rate of more than 20 per cent, a growing number of Africans are being recruited for Russia’s relentless ground attacks in Ukraine, a new investigation has found.
The investigators identified the names and other personal details of more than 1,400 Africans from 35 countries who signed contracts with the Russian army from January, 2023, to September, 2025, including more than 300 who were killed within months of arriving at the front.
The report, released Wednesday by Swiss-based investigative group INPACT, documents a vast network of social-media influencers and travel agencies that entice Africans to join the Russian military, often with promises of hefty salaries and bonuses that never materialize.
Moscow’s recruitment of Africans is a “deliberate and organized strategy,” often exploiting their poverty and their desire for higher education, job opportunities or unofficial routes to European countries, the report said.
The Africans are lured into Russian military service, or forced into the army after arriving in Moscow, then deployed to Ukraine, it said. “These recruits have been integrated into assault waves designed to overwhelm Ukrainian defensive lines, contributing to a strategy of attrition.”
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The report found a steady increase in recruitment, beginning with 177 Africans in 2023, 592 in 2024 and 647 last year.
The true number of African recruits and deaths is believed to be much higher. A recent study by the French Institute of International Relations estimated there are 3,000 to 4,000 Africans among the 18,000 to 20,000 foreign fighters in the Russian army.
Russia’s use of African recruits has become increasingly controversial in Africa. This week, both the Kenyan and South African governments took action to try to get their nationals back home.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa raised the issue in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, while Kenyan foreign minister Musalia Mudavadi announced that he will travel to Moscow to try to fix the problem.
Kenya’s junior foreign minister, Abraham Korir Sing’Oei, told the AFP news agency that Russia is using the recruits as “cannon fodder” at the front.
In South Africa, the Russian recruitment campaign has led to criminal charges and political scandals. Five South Africans, including a radio host at the state broadcaster, are currently on trial, accused of violating the country’s anti-mercenary laws by allegedly recruiting South Africans for the Russian army.
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Former president Jacob Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, resigned her parliamentary seat after reports that she had helped recruit 17 men who ended up at the Russian front lines in Ukraine. The men are still struggling to return home from the front, according to their families, despite months of efforts by Mr. Zuma and Mr. Ramaphosa to seek help from the Russian government.
Many of the African recruits have been shown in social-media photos and videos posted by Russian soldiers or by the recruits themselves. One of the most disturbing videos, posted online and widely viewed last month, shows a Kenyan recruit named Francis with an anti-tank mine strapped to his chest. A Russian soldier hurls racist slurs at him, saying he will be used as a “can opener” to breach the Ukrainian lines.
Of the recruits who were identified in the INPACT investigation, 316 died in combat – on average, within six months of their arrival. Fifty-one Africans died within a month of arrival, the report said.
Many were recruited with promises of lucrative bonuses that were never paid, it said. Advertisements offered an initial cash payment of US$2,000 to US$30,000 and a monthly salary of US$2,000 to US$5,000, plus health insurance and the promise of Russian citizenship. In many African countries, these are huge sums of money.
At least one Russian operator, posing as a visa agency to attract recruits on Kenyan social-media groups, boasted privately to an INPACT investigator that he was a member of the Russian Federal Security Service – the former KGB.
Recruitment networks have thrived by generating “a commercial ecosystem that has created opportunities for individuals and businesses to enrich themselves from human misery,” the report said.