The Telegraph: Russian Federation Tricks Africans Into War
1- 9.06.2025, 11:17
- 3,678
They promise a job at a shampoo factory in Moscow.
Russia has recruited 36-year-old Jean Onanu from Cameroon for the war against Ukraine. He was promised a job at a shampoo factory in Moscow, The Telegraph reported, citing intelligence reports.
After losing his job, Onana was looking for a way to support his wife and three young children. As he later told Ukrainian investigators, he decided to seize the opportunity to earn a good salary and in March bought a ticket to Moscow at his own expense.
There he joined many other young Africans traveling to Russia in search of study or work.
Once Onana was detained along with ten other citizens of Bangladesh, Cameroon, Zimbabwe and Ghana upon arrival. They were told that instead of working, they were to sign a one-year contract to serve in the Russian army and go to war against Ukraine.
"Onana was one of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Africans who were sent to the front lines. Some were recruited to work in factories to keep the Russian war machine running. Many of them ended up in the army because of deception, coercion or signing contracts under duress," the journalists said.
According to intelligence reports seen by the publication, Africans are lured by promises of money or forced to serve.
Onana, who was promised a high salary, was forced to sign a contract. He underwent five weeks of training in Rostov and Lugansk, along with ten foreigners from Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Brazil.
He was allowed to call home during his training, but his phone and documents were confiscated before he was sent to the front.
In early May, he and eight other fighters were ordered to occupy a bunker. The shelling killed everyone except Onana, who lay wounded in the rubble for six days. He managed to get out, after which he was taken prisoner.
Another recently captured African, 25-year-old Malik Diop from Senegal, told the Ukrainian military that he was studying in Russia when he was approached by recruiters at a shopping center.
They promised him a job washing dishes in Luhansk for $5700 a month. But within a week, they gave him a gun, grenades and a helmet - and sent him to the front lines near Toretsk.
"We started seeing dead people in the woods, a lot of bodies in buildings. It made a strong impression on me," Diop recalled.
Subsequently, he took off his uniform, left his weapon and deserted, but was captured two days later.
In some cases, men were detained at the airport and forced to sign military contracts.
According to a report by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, the Russian campaign also recruited hundreds of young women, mostly from Africa, to work in the production of Iranian drones.
They were hired by a company in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (Yelabuga, east of Moscow) with promises of good pay and training opportunities.
The women, however, were not informed that they would be working in a military facility.
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