Kenya’s Foreign Minister has announced that the nation will demand explanations from Russia following reports that Kenyans are being recruited to join the conflict in Ukraine. This follows growing concern over the recruitment of Kenyan citizens as combatants in the ongoing war.
In an interview with the BBC, Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi condemned the recruitment process, labeling it as “unacceptable and clandestine.” He emphasized that the Kenyan government has already taken action against unauthorized recruiters operating within its borders and plans to push Russia to agree to a formal prohibition on enlisting Kenyan nationals.
Current estimates from Nairobi indicate that around 200 Kenyans have been recruited to fight for Russia. Mudavadi highlighted the struggles faced by families attempting to recover the remains of relatives who have died in the conflict, underscoring the challenges in the repatriation process.
Musalia Mudavadi made these remarks in the context of a bilateral agreement, which was signed to support Kenyan police officers deployed to the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti. The agreement was finalized during an event in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on May 12, 2025. (Erika Santelices/Reuters)
“It’s a complicated situation because the location of the bodies is variable,” Mudavadi told the BBC. “Some have been found within Ukraine, and we are actively collaborating with Ukrainian authorities to ensure the remains of our citizens are returned home.”
“It is difficult because, remember, it depends on where the body has been found,” the foreign minister told the BBC. “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.”
In a November post on X, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv estimates that at least 1,436 foreign nationals from 36 African countries have been recruited to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine, warning the true number may be higher.
Sybiha said Russia uses a range of tactics to recruit foreigners, including financial incentives, deception and coercion.
Susan Khandasi Kuloba, whose son David Kuloba died while fighting for Russia in Ukraine, poses with portraits of him during an interview at her home in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya, on Dec. 2, 2025. (Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)
“Signing a contract is equivalent to signing a death sentence,” he wrote. “Foreign citizens in the Russian army have a sad fate. Most of them are immediately sent to the so-called ‘meat assaults,’ where they are quickly killed.”
Mudavadi said in December that the government had received multiple emails and urgent communications from Kenyans in distress at military camps in Russia.
Evans Khagola, cousin of Oscar Khagola, holds a printed photo sent by Oscar to his father showing him and other soldiers when they started training in Russia, photographed in Nairobi, Kenya, on Jan. 21, 2026. (Ed Ram/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“Several of them have reported injuries among our nationals and others stranded, following attempted recruitment into the violent conflicts,” he told the Kenya News Agency, the country’s state-run news service.
Mudavadi said the government has since tightened recruitment regulations, deregistering more than 600 non-compliant agencies and strengthening job verification through the Diaspora Placement Agency to curb exploitation.
