'The Death Zone': How Russia Is Luring Africans to Ukraine
James Kamau Ndungu told only a few friends that he was heading to Russia. He told them he had been promised a job as a day laborer there. He was 32, unemployed in Kenya and needed the work.
Last June, Mr. Kamau sent a photo to his friends from Istanbul Airport, saying he was in transit, one of the friends said. A few weeks later, he sent another photo. This time, he was wearing fatigues and holding a gun. In August, he wrote to say that he was in a trench in Ukraine. Things were bad. He asked for prayers.
It was the last anyone in Kenya heard from him.
A growing number of Africans are ending up on the front lines of Russia’s war with Ukraine. Some go there willingly as mercenaries, but many more are like Mr. Kamau, young men lured by the promise of ordinary civilian jobs — from bodyguards to line cooks — only to be forced into joining Russian forces in battle.
A string of fly-by-night companies have been set up across the continent to recruit the men. The companies often appear as travel agencies or job placement firms and advertise on WhatsApp or Telegram.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/world/africa/ukraine-russia-war-african-soldiers.html?
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Pure evil.
= new reply since forum marked as read
