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An intelligence report presented to Kenya’s parliament has revealed that the Russian Government has deployed over 1000 Kenyans to fight on the side of the Russian Army against Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine war, now in its fourth year.
The Russian Government has been accused of luring citizens of many African countries into fighting with the Russian Army by tricking them into signing military contracts and promising them mouth-watering job offers.
Kenya’s majority leader in parliament, Kimani Ichung’wah, told lawmakers that Kenyans fighting with the Russian Army leave Kenya on tourist visas via Istanbul, Turkey, and Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Ichung’wah added that the recruits are now travelling to other African countries to avoid detection following increased border enforcement at Nairobi’s airport, adding that unlicensed recruitment agencies in Kenya were “colluding with rogue airport staff”.
The East African country’s foreign minister, Musalia Mudavadi, who has criticised Russia for luring Kenyans into the war, will travel to Moscow in March to discuss the matter with the Russian Government.
Multiple investigations have exposed how Russia lures Africans into enlisting for its military and fighting in the war against Ukraine. Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and South Africa are among the other African countries that have been targeted for recruitment by Russia.
A 2025 investigation revealed that Russia used a programme called Alabuga Start in Russia’s Tatarstan region, which was advertised as a vocational training or scholarship opportunity for foreign youth.
Nigerian and other African women who went there expecting education or technical training reportedly ended up working on drone manufacturing lines supplying Russia’s military, under harsh conditions and exposed to dangerous materials.
These recruits say they were not told their work would contribute to Russia’s war effort, and some were treated like cheap labour rather than students.
