AT least 55 Ghanaians have been killed fighting in the war in Ukraine, with two others currently held as prisoners of war, Ghana’s foreign affairs minister says.
On a trip to Kyiv, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said that about 272 Ghanaians are believed to have been lured into the conflict since 2022, citing Ukrainian authorities.
Ablakwa described the figures as “depressing and frightening,” saying Ghana “cannot turn a blind eye to these heartbreaking statistics”.
He did not say whose side the Ghanaians had been fighting on but Ukraine’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that more than 1,700 people from 36 countries in Africa had been recruited to fight for Russia.
The 55 Ghanaians is the highest number of casualties from a single African country to have been officially confirmed in the Ukraine-Russia war.
Local media in Cameroon have reported that 94 of its nationals have died in the conflict, but the authorities have not commented on these figures.
Two South Africans and at least one Kenyan have died in the conflict.
Ablakawa said the casualty figures were “not just numbers, they represent human lives, the hope of many Ghanaian families and our nation”.
He said the Ghanaian government was committed to “tracking and dismantling all dark web illegal recruitment schemes” as well as launching intensive public awareness campaigns to prevent the country’s youth from being drawn into the conflict.
“This is not our war and we cannot allow our youth to become human shields for others,” he added.
On Thursday, a Kenyan national was charged over accusations he had lured young men to Russia with job opportunities, only for them to end up fighting in Ukraine. Festus Arasa Omwamba denied the charges.
A total of 1,000 Kenyans have been recruited to fight for Russia in its four-year war against Ukraine, said a report from Kenya’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), released last week.
Russia’s embassy in Kenya has denied accusations that it was involved in recruiting people to fight in the war.
However, it said that Russian law allowed foreign nationals who are legally in the country to voluntarily enlist in the armed forces.
On Wednesday, Ghana’s foreign minister urged President Volodymyr Zelensky to release two Ghanaian prisoners of war captured fighting for Russia.
“They are victims of manipulation, of disinformation, misinformation, of criminal trafficking networks,” he said.
He thanked Ukraine for ensuring international law was respected in the handling of the detainees.
“We have received reports that they are in good health,” he said. “They have not been tortured. They have not suffered any inhumane treatment since they were captured.”
The family of one of the men said they were hopeful he would be freed soon. According to the AFP news agency, 35-year-old Joshua Nkrumah left his pregnant wife in Dubai in July 2024 and travelled to Russia, believing he had secured a private security job.
He was captured by Ukrainian forces in September 2024 after surviving a drone strike. Nkrumah remains in detention, and his family has had no contact with him since.
Joshua’s father, Albert, told AFP that he sometimes wondered if his son was dead or alive.
“As a father, I live every day with a silent weight on my chest. I wake up and the first thing I think about is my son – whether he has eaten, whether he is safe, whether he still has hope,” he added.
“I just want my son alive and back home. That is all a father asks.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said both sides discussed “frankly” about the possibility of returning the prisoners to Ghana.
South Africa on Thursday said that two of its citizens had been killed in Ukraine, while another 15 had been repatriated over the past week. Two more remain in Russia getting treatment for “very severe” injuries, said Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly warned that anyone fighting for Russia would be treated as an enemy combatant, and that the only safe route out was to surrender and be treated as a prisoner of war.
Ukraine has also previously come in for criticism for trying to recruit foreign nationals, including Africans, to fight on its side.