Russia has agreed to halt the recruitment of Kenyan citizens to fight alongside its army in Ukraine, according to Kenya’s Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi.
In February, Ukraine estimated that more than 1,780 citizens from 36 African countries were fighting with Russian forces in Ukraine.
“We have now agreed that Kenyans will not be enlisted through the [Russian] Ministry of Defence,” Mudavadi said on Monday, speaking alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after their talks in Moscow.
Mudavadi added that the discussion also covered the welfare of Kenyans in Russia, particularly those involved in the ongoing military operation. “There will be no further enlistment,” he confirmed.
The Kenyan minister emphasized that consular services would be provided to Kenyans requiring assistance, following the appropriate diplomatic procedures.
“We do not want our partnership with Russia to be defined solely by the context of the special operation in Ukraine,” Mudavadi said. “The relationship between Kenya and Russia is far broader than that.”
While Lavrov did not specifically mention the agreement, he noted that the Russian Ministry of Defence was investigating cases that had raised “concerns among our Kenyan friends.”
“Russia is not forcing anyone to enlist,” Lavrov stated, adding that Kenyan citizens had voluntarily signed contracts to join the Russian army.
A Kenyan intelligence report presented to lawmakers in February revealed that over 1,000 Kenyans had been recruited to fight for Russia, a number five times higher than previously estimated.
Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has been widely accused of recruiting foreign nationals to bolster its forces.
Kenyan politicians have raised concerns about a network of rogue officials working with human trafficking syndicates to recruit Kenyans for the war in Ukraine, a practice that the Kenyan government is committed to ending.
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