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At least 55 Ghanaians have been killed in Russia’s war with Ukraine after being “lured into battle”, Ghana’s foreign minister has said after a visit to Kyiv in which officials raised the issue of Russian recruitment of African people.
Reports of African men being attracted to Russia by promises of jobs and ending up on Ukraine’s frontlines have become more frequent in recent months, creating tensions between Moscow and some of the countries involved.
Russian authorities have denied illegally recruiting African citizens to fight in Ukraine. The foreign minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said in a post on X on Thursday: “We were informed that 272 Ghanaians are believed to have been lured into battle since 2022 for which an estimated 55 have been killed and 2 captured as prisoners of war.”
At a media briefing on Tuesday, Andrii Sybiha, the Ukrainian foreign minister, who was standing alongside Ablakwa, said more than 1,780 Africans from 36 different countries were fighting in the Russian army.
Ghana, which has economic and diplomatic ties to Russia, intended to raise awareness about recruitment and to dismantle “dark web illegal recruitment schemes operating within our jurisdiction”, Ablakwa said in his post on X. “This is not our war and we cannot allow our youth to become human shields for others,” he said.
The minister said Ghana’s government would intensify public education and work to “track and dismantle all dark web illegal recruitment schemes” operating in the country. He added that the two captured Ghanaians had warned young people against being tempted by financial incentives to join the conflict.
South Africa’s government said this week that two of its citizens had died on the frontlines of the conflict. The two were separate from a group of 17 South Africans who were tricked into fighting for Russia in Ukraine and who had mostly been repatriated, South Africa’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
In South Africa, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, a daughter of the former South African president Jacob Zuma, is being investigated by police for alleged involvement in luring more than a dozen South African men to Russia.
According to a Kenyan intelligence report, more than 1,000 Kenyans have been recruited to fight for Russia.
Kenya’s foreign ministry has said 27 Kenyans have been rescued after being stranded in Russia.
Musalia Mudavadi, the Kenyan foreign minister, has said he plans to visit Russia in March for talks on the issue.
