NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya has said it will formally engage Russia amid growing reports that its citizens are being recruited to fight in the war in Ukraine, describing the practice as illegal and deeply troubling.
Speaking to Vivid Voice News, Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi termed the recruitment of Kenyans into the conflict “unacceptable and clandestine,” saying Nairobi had already moved to shut down illegal recruiters and would push Moscow to enter into a formal agreement barring the conscription of Kenyan nationals.
The Kenyan government estimates that about 200 Kenyans have been recruited to fight on behalf of Russian forces, though officials concede the true number remains unclear, as none are believed to have travelled through official state channels.
“Kenya and Russia have had long relations since independence, literally. So this, in my view, becomes a very unfortunate episode of otherwise very positive and cordial relations between our two countries,” Mudavadi said.
He told Vivid Voice News that Kenya’s engagement with Moscow would focus on halting illegal recruitment networks, including discussions on visa policies and labour agreements that explicitly exclude military service.
Kenyan authorities say they have shut down more than 600 recruitment agencies suspected of misleading citizens with promises of overseas employment, particularly in Eastern Europe and Asia.
So far, 27 Kenyans who had been fighting in Russia have been repatriated, according to the foreign minister, with the government providing psychological support aimed at treating trauma and “de-radicalising” returnees.
However, the fate of many others remains unknown. It is not clear how many Kenyans may have died while fighting for Russian forces, and Moscow has not publicly addressed the reports. Families who have sought answers from the Russian embassy in Nairobi say they have been turned away.
“Families that we’ve spoken to say they have not been able to bury their loved ones because their bodies are still on the other end,” Mudavadi said.
“It is difficult because, remember, it depends on where the body has been found. There some have been found in Ukraine – we are also working with the government of Ukraine to try and get the remains of those people repatriated.”
Pressure has been mounting on the Kenyan government following reports of additional deaths involving citizens recruited into the conflict. Some families have accused authorities of failing to adequately regulate and criminalise clandestine recruitment networks.
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But Mudavadi rejected the criticism.
“You cannot blame the government on this,” Mudavadi told Vivid Voice News. “Where there are illegal recruitment agencies, we have scrapped them and we continue to scrap them.”
According to Ukrainian intelligence assessments, more than 1,400 fighters from 36 African countries are believed to have been recruited to fight for Russia since the war began.
Ukraine has also faced criticism in the past for attempting to recruit foreign nationals, including Africans, to fight on its side.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly warned that foreign nationals fighting for Russian forces will be treated as enemy combatants, saying surrender is the only safe route out and that those who do so will be treated as prisoners of war under international law.
