Bloomberg: Russia lures Kenyans to fight in Ukraine

Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that at least 200 Kenyans have been lured to Russia in recent months with promises of employment, according to Bloomberg.

The outlet recounts the story of Martin Mburu, who boarded an Air Arabia flight from Nairobi to Moscow on October 21 this year. According to the article, he believed he was travelling for a well-paid job as a driver or security guard.

Kenyan and Russian recruiters reportedly promised him a salary of 250,000 Kenyan shillings, or about $2,000 a month.

His wife, Grace Gathoni, last spoke to Mburu on November 19. Just two days later, she saw a report on Kenyan television stating that the 38-year-old minibus driver had been killed in Donbas.

“It was such a shock,” Gathoni said in an interview from her modest home on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital. “He had no military background and was only given three days of training.”

The publication cites Ukrainian officials, who said in November that more than 1,400 people from three dozen African countries had ended up fighting on the side of Russian forces in Ukraine.

Bloomberg notes that during the same month, it was revealed that the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma was involved in recruiting men from South Africa and Botswana.

By Vugar Khalilov