The families of 35 Kenyans lured into fighting for the Russian army demanded on Thursday that their government take action to bring them home.
Multiple media investigations, including one published earlier this month by AFP, have exposed how Russia has enticed men from African countries with promises of lucrative civilian jobs, only to force them into fighting on the front line in Ukraine.
An intelligence report presented to parliament on Wednesday said more than 1,000 Kenyans had gone to fight for Russia.
While some are ex-soldiers leaving to become mercenaries, many appear to have been tricked by rogue recruitment agencies working with Russian authorities.
Families of the recruits gathered in Nairobi for a protest on Thursday, holding placards with their photos and captions like “Bring our son back”.
“We hope to get any information about my brother — dead or alive or injured… At least we can bring closure to this,” said Winnie Rose Wambui.
Her brother, Samuel Maina, went to Russia believing he had a job as a security guard at a mall.
Several families told AFP they had not heard from their relatives for months.
Wambui said her brother sent a “distress voice note” on October 31 from a forest, asking the family to pray for him. They have not heard from him since.
“The ministry of foreign affairs is not helping us,” she said. “They told us if we have questions we have go to the Kenyan embassy in Moscow.”
The Russian embassy posted a statement on X on Thursday, denying the allegations and calling them a “dangerous and misleading propaganda campaign”.
The report presented to Kenya’s parliament, produced by the National Intelligence Service and Directorate of Criminal Investigations, found the number of recruits was far higher than the figure of “around 200” given by authorities in December.
“The rogue agencies are targeting ex-military, ex-police officers, as well as civilians… who are desperate for job opportunities abroad,” Kimani Ichung’wah, parliament majority leader, told lawmakers.
He said the recruitment agencies were “colluding with rogue airport staff” and immigration officials, and recruits were increasingly leaving from other African countries to avoid detection.
Ichung’wah said at least 39 Kenyans were currently hospitalised, 28 missing in action and 89 on the front line.
The families plan to present petitions to several government offices next week, including the foreign ministry, and to the Russian embassy, according to their coordinator Peter Kamau, whose brother Gerald Gitau is missing.
“It very bad when unscrupulous agents are taking advantage of the state of joblessness in Kenya to exploit our brothers,” he said.
“We are demanding for the government to act and ensure our chidren are brought back because we cannot go to Russia,” Kamau said.
Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi is due to visit Moscow next month to discuss the issue.
The government recently condemned the use of Kenyan citizens “as cannon fodder”.
Uganda and South Africa are among the other African countries that have been targeted for recruitment at a time when Russia faces heavy casualties in Ukraine.
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