Africans recruited by Russia and held prisoner in Ukraine, study finds

Russia recruits African nationals, often drawn by promises of study or work, to send them to fight in Ukraine, according to a study by researcher Thierry Vircoulon based on African prisoners of war held in Ukraine. The author interviewed about ten Africans in a Ukrainian prison, with the authorities' agreement.

Two categories emerge among these "amateur soldiers": students enrolled at Russian universities and urban workers recruited in Africa. The first African victim identified in the conflict, in 2022, was a Zambian student enlisted in the Russian paramilitary group Wagner. Migrant workers, for their part, have no typical profile: aged from 20 to over 40, they are unemployed people, informal-sector workers, junior civil servants, craftsmen or nurses, from the urban popular classes.

The prisoners are essentially civilians with no experience of weapons before arriving in Russia, and all were looking for an opportunity to study or work abroad. For most, the trip to Russia was their first journey outside the African continent, or even outside their own country. Some had already worked in the Gulf countries.

The study appears as negotiations on prisoners continue: on 6 November, Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza called for their release, and Ukraine accuses Russia of having strengthened its positions at Oleshky during the truce.