Zimbabwe says 15 of its citizens killed after fraudulent recruitment into Russia-Ukraine war

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe on Wednesday said that 15 of its citizens have been killed after being recruited into the war between Russia and Ukraine, as authorities warn of fraudulent schemes to lure recruits from several other African countries into the four-year-old conflict.

Information Minister Zhemu Soda told reporters in the capital, Harare, that the government is ramping up diplomatic efforts to get back home 66 other Zimbabweans who are still alive.

Besides Zimbabwe, African countries such South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria have reported similar cases of their nationals being tricked to Russia with false promises of work but ending up on the front lines of the war.

Soda said victims from Zimbabwe had received deceptive and lucrative job offers by “fraudulent” employment agencies “leveraging social media platforms as their primary hunting ground.”

He said the “pattern” includes victims being promised attractive salaries and safe working conditions, but they ended up being stripped of travel documents and “coerced into active combat.”

“They receive little to no training and are placed in life-threatening situations. When they are injured, killed or captured, the recruiters vanish, leaving families in Zimbabwe with no information, no support and no one to hold accountable. In many cases, the promised remuneration is never paid,” said Soda.

The southern African country, which enjoys close relations with Russia, is now working to secure the return of survivors and repatriate the bodies of those killed, the minister said.

Zimbabwe’s announcement follows similar cases across Africa, where governments say their citizens have been lured through deceptive recruitment drives into the conflict, which has killed close to 2 million people, according to a January report by the thank tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In South Africa, police questioned 11 men who returned home in February after allegedly being recruited to Russia under the pretense of security training. Authorities later confirmed that two South Africans were killed in the conflict, while several others were injured or stranded.

An intelligence report in Kenya stated that as many as 1,000 Kenyans were recruited with promises of jobs before being sent to the front line in Ukraine. The report said dozens were injured, missing or still fighting, and at least one Kenyan had died.

Ukrainian officials have estimated that more than 1,700 Africans may have been recruited to fight for Russia, while cases involving citizens of Nigeria and other countries have also been reported.

Investigations by The Associated Press in 2024 found that recruitment networks have targeted workers in Africa and Asia through social media advertisements and private agencies, offering work-study programs or civilian jobs that later turned into military contracts. Some recruits said their passports were confiscated and they were forced to fight with little training.