Kenya, Botswana and Zimbabwe are pressing Ukraine to hand back citizens captured while serving in Russia’s army, saying some were tricked into the war with offers of civilian work, according to media reports citing Bloomberg.
Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi said Nairobi is negotiating the return of five men, the youngest of them 23. He said Kenya wants them treated as victims of human trafficking rather than prisoners of war. Botswana’s foreign ministry said it is seeking the return of one citizen from a Ukrainian camp.
African governments say the men were offered jobs in Russia as drivers, security guards or cooks, then pushed into military service. In a statement that did not name Russia or Ukraine, they said some recruits were sent to active front lines without any military training. Reports said Kenyan President William Ruto has raised the matter directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy by phone.
Mudavadi said about 84 Kenyans have been killed or are missing, 34 are being treated for injuries in Russia, and 62 who took part in the war have already returned home.
Ukrainian authorities say Russia has recruited more than 28,000 foreign nationals from 135 countries, and that over 5,000 of them have died. They say Ukrainian forces have captured fighters from 51 countries. Ukraine is holding at least 213 foreign prisoners of war, excluding Russians and North Koreans, and 37 of them are citizens of African countries, including the five Kenyans.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andriy Sybiha, said in February that more than 1,700 Africans had been identified as fighting for Russia, up from 1,400 in November 2025.
The prospects for a quick release look slim. Kyiv maintains that the captives are prisoners of war who must be exchanged for Ukrainians held by Russia. Ukraine’s government has not publicly responded to the latest appeals in the reports reviewed.
