Russia’s Mercenary Machine: European Parliament Calls Out Moscow’s Recruitment of African Fighters

The European Parliament has formally condemned Russia’s systematic use of deceptive recruitment to send thousands of African and other foreign nationals to fight in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The condemnation comes in a resolution adopted on March 12, titled “On trafficking in persons and serious human rights violations related to the recruitment of citizens, in particular from Africa, for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine”, as reported by Ukrainian outlets. It passed by 479 votes in favour, 17 against, and 43 abstentions out of 539 MEPs present.

The resolution states that Russia is employing “deceptive tactics and coercion to recruit thousands of foreign nationals from various African states”, as well as individuals from Cuba, South and Central Asia, to sustain what MEPs describe as Russia’s “brutal, unprovoked, unjustified, and unlawful war of aggression against Ukraine”.

According to the document, recruits are lured through social media platforms with false promises of employment, education, or Russian citizenship — with networks systematically targeting low-income communities. Several African governments have already identified such recruitment networks operating on their territory. Once in Russia, recruits are stripped of their identity documents and forcibly mobilised under pressure or threats. They are then assigned to the most dangerous frontline duties, treated as expendable, and subjected to racial violence and discrimination.

The resolution also draws attention to hundreds of African women who were allegedly deceived into working at drone assembly factories in Russia under dangerous and exploitative conditions. Russia conducts this recruitment, the document states, through state-linked companies, intermediaries, military structures, and embassy officials.

MEPs singled out the case of Francis Ndungu Ndarua, a Kenyan national fraudulently recruited and sent to eastern Ukraine, cited as an illustration of what the resolution calls the “extreme brutality” of these practices. The Parliament calls on Russia to inform his family of his whereabouts and secure his return home.

The pattern described in the resolution is consistent with findings reported by Insight News in February, when a Kenyan intelligence report presented to parliament revealed that over 1,000 Kenyan nationals had been recruited into Russia’s military — five times more than authorities had previously acknowledged. The report described a sprawling network involving recruitment agencies, rogue government employees, and embassy staff, with recruits transiting through Turkey, the UAE, and later Uganda and South Africa as Kenyan authorities tightened airport surveillance.

The European Parliament “strongly condemns the trafficking and forced recruitment of foreign nationals into Russia’s military service and war-related labour exploitation”, the resolution concludes.