By Olha Chepil | 2025-12-01

Seventeen South African men thought they were heading for steady jobs abroad. Instead, they found themselves hiding from artillery in Donbas, the latest evidence of a covert Russian recruitment pipeline stretching across Africa.

For the first time, a major African nation has publicly acknowledged that its citizens are being deceived into fighting in the war in Ukraine. South Africa launched an investigation in November, after the group asked authorities to help them return home, saying they expected civilian work but ended up in an active combat zone.

"Such cases were previously recorded in Central, East and West Africa. But for this to happen to South African citizens in particular is a first," Marta Oliynyk-Domochko, an African studies expert, told Kontur.

South Africa's presidency confirmed receiving appeals from men caught in the fighting, though the statement did not specify which side they were on.

"The government of South Africa has received distress calls for assistance to return home, from 17 South African men, between the ages of 20-39 years, who are trapped in the war-torn Donbas, Ukraine," President Cyril Ramaphosa's office said on November 6.

According to Oliynyk-Domochko, the episode is especially sensitive for Pretoria. South Africa, which chairs the G20 and hopes to speak for the continent on global issues, has maintained close ties with Moscow.

"As a major power, South Africa cannot turn a blind eye to its citizens fighting for Russia, given its clout, its presidency of the G20 and its desire to be the voice of Africa," she said.

International relations expert Maksym Palamarchuk told Kontur that Pretoria moved quickly because "South Africa is quite an influential state. It cannot allow its citizens to be treated as cannon fodder."

He added, "These citizens were tricked into ending up there because of Kremlin policy, and they had no intention of dying for Russia."

A pattern across the continent

African recruits began appearing at the front months after Russia's full-scale invasion, including a well-known case in 2022 involving a Zambian student who died after being released from a Russian prison and sent to fight. The death was the first clear sign that Moscow was drawing on foreigners, including inmates, to bolster its forces.

"Today, reports are coming in from almost the entire continent, from East Africa to West Africa: Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Mali, and now South Africa," said Oliynyk-Domochko.

Palamarchuk noted that governments aligned with Moscow rarely admit recruitment is happening.

"If these countries are allies of Russia, they will not admit that their citizens are being recruited. But that doesn't mean that they are delighted with the situation," he said.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said more than 1,400 citizens from 36 African countries are fighting for Russia. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X that this figure includes only those already identified and is likely an undercount.

Journalists and analysts say Russia uses a similar playbook across Africa: social media ads offering jobs in factories, construction, security, or transportation, with salaries far above local averages. After recruits arrive in Russia, their passports are confiscated and they are sent to the front.

"Russians have entire offices in Africa. People arrive, and there's an office that looks like a regular recruitment agency," said Oliynyk-Domochko.

Palamarchuk added, "They are lured to Russia for work, for example, as security guards, not work related to military operations. And then they get thrown to the front."

High unemployment makes the offers hard to resist.

"Russians offer $1,000–$2,000 'for work' 'at a factory,'" said Oliynyk-Domochko. Once transported, many recruits end up in the combat zone with no training, no contract, and no way to return home.

"It literally looks like a modern-day slave trade," she said.

Why Russia wants African recruits

Heavy losses have pushed Moscow to search abroad for manpower. In the past year, confirmed cases have surfaced across Asia and the Middle East. Sri Lanka reported dozens of its citizens were fighting for Russia and seeking repatriation. About 200 Nepalese are believed to be serving, with roughly half missing.

"In Nepal, there were also organizations that recruited people directly within the country. They promised construction-related work -- and then people ended up as assault troops instead," military analyst Alexander Kovalenko told Kontur.

Similar recruitment has been documented among citizens of India, Cuba, Yemen, Iraq and Kazakhstan. Kovalenko noted that the Kremlin even works with North Korea, whose soldiers have been deployed in Russia's Kursk region.

"They cost [the Kremlin] less than Russians," he said.

Ukraine has repeatedly warned that foreigners in Russian ranks face extreme danger. Sybiha wrote on X that most are "immediately sent to the so-called 'meatgrinder assaults,' where they are quickly killed," adding that the Russian command sees them as expendable because "there will be no accountability for the killed foreigner."

"Foreign mercenaries from the poorest countries are being thrown into the most dangerous assaults," Kovalenko said. "If they die, no one looks for their bodies, and no payments are made to their families."

South Africa's public acknowledgment marks a turning point. Experts say the case could force African governments to scrutinize Russian activity more closely and may set a precedent for broader investigations into recruitment practices across the continent.