Pressure and $5000 promise: African students are recruited for war in Russia

In Russia, students from Africa are recruited to the PMC “Wagner” to send them to the war against Ukraine. They threaten to deprive them of scholarships and raise tuition fees for refusal.

This was told by African students of the Southern Federal University in Rostov-on-Don, The Daily Beast reported.

In Russia, African students are persuaded to fight against Ukraine

The officials tried to convince students to accept the offer from the Russian army or the PMC “Wagner” and go to war. Interestingly, for participation in hostilities on the side of Russia, they promised from 3 to 5 thousand dollars.

But for refusal, they threaten to increase tuition fees and deprive them of scholarships. Such proposals have been heard for the last three months.

“There are three of them (officials at the school) who’ve been meeting us at our hostel and trying so hard to convince us to fight for Russia,” a student from Nigeria. “They said we can fight in Ukraine for a short time, make so much money and then return to Russia to continue our education. They have met so many African students and told them that.”

“The pressure is so much”

“They have reminded us a couple of times that there are some Africans already fighting in Ukraine and earning good money,” said the Nigerian student who – like other Africans approached by Russian officials – The Daily Beast did not provide his name to protect him from possible persecution. “They want us to believe that fighting in Ukraine will benefit us financially.”

Moreover, FSB officers are also trying to recruit into the ranks of the invaders. Students complained that they were often approached by police or military in the park.

“Everywhere we go, people are trying to convince us to fight in Ukraine,” said the Senegalese student who has vowed never to join the war. “The pressure is so big.”

There is already a victim from Zambia in the war in Ukraine

On November 14, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Zambia reported that on September 23, a student from Zambia was killed during the fighting in Ukraine. Now the African country demands explanations from Russia.

It should be noted that, just in October, Putin’s warlord Yevgeny Progozhin, owner of the private military company Wagner was promoting the participation in the war against Ukraine to prisoners across Russia. Now, hundreds of hired criminals were killed on the frontlines. Many mercenaries, the luckiest ones, were captured alive by the Ukrainian army. 

By the middle of October, more than 500 prisoners had died overall. The letters come with a posthumous award, “For Courage,” and the documents (which relatives posted on social media sites) are correctly numbered, allowing us to estimate how many letters there are.

Families of the deceased attest that their sons died in Ukraine while fighting after being recruited in the colonies. Russia can only recruit everyone without exception to send some people to war.