KENYA’s foreign minister says Russia has agreed to stop deploying Kenyan nationals to fight in the war in Ukraine, after talks in Moscow.
Sitting beside his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, Musalia Mudavadi said both sides had agreed that Kenyans would no longer be recruited through Russia’s defence ministry. “They will no longer be eligible to be enlisted,” he said.
Lavrov did not comment on the deal and insisted that all foreign fighters had joined voluntarily ”in full compliance with Russian law”.
A Kenyan intelligence report in February warned that more than 1,000 citizens had been recruited to fight for Russia in Ukraine.
Some Kenyans have said they were lured to fight for Russia with promises of well‑paid civilian jobs, only to find themselves forced into fighting in Ukraine,
Mudavadi is also seeking the repatriation of Kenyans who wish to return home.
He last month told the BBC that Kenyan authorities had closed more than 600 recruitment agencies suspected of duping Kenyans with promises of jobs overseas.
Kenyan lawmakers say rogue state officials have been working with human trafficking networks to recruit citizens to fight for Russia in Ukraine.
So far 27 Kenyans who had been fighting in Russia have been repatriated, with authorities providing psychological care to address their trauma and “de-radicalise” them, Mudavadi said.
It is not clear how many Kenyans have died fighting for Russian forces, and Russia has not formally addressed such reports. Relatives who have approached the Russian embassy in Nairobi for answers report being turned away.
Public pressure has also grown. In February, families of Kenyans believed to be fighting in Ukraine held a protest outside parliament in Nairobi, calling for government action and the return of their relatives.
During his visit to Moscow, Mudavadi also intends to negotiate an agreement allowing Kenyans easier access to the Russian job market.
“We do not want for any reason our partnership with Russia to be defined from the lenses of the special operation [in Ukraine] agenda only,” he said. “The relationship between Kenya and Russia is much more broader than that.”
Ukrainian intelligence assessment estimates that more than 1,700 people from 36 countries in Africa have been recruited to fight for Russia.
In February, South Africa repatriated 17 citizens who said they had been trapped in Ukraine’s Donbas region after being deceived into fighting for Russia.
Ukraine has also previously come in for criticism for trying to recruit foreign nationals, including Africans, to fight on its side.