59 Kenyans have been killed while fighting for Russia in Ukraine. This is according to the watchdog Stop Russian Recruiters which has been keeping tally of the number of Africans who have been killed in the war.
The watchdog says that it has so far identified up to 2,984 Africans from 40 African countries who signed up military contracts with Russia to join the war.
Among the dead, Cameroon has the highest casualty numbers with a loss of 104 men followed by Ghana which has lost 85 men who secretly joined the war. Egypt has so far lost 81 men while Kenya comes in fourth with a loss of 59 men.
As more Kenyan men die in the war, the identities of the bodies of the dead recruits have been hardly retrieved from the war zones.
In April this year, Ukraine recovered the bodies of several Kenyan men in the Donetsk region. Among them were the bodies of 39-year-old Ombwori Denis Bagaka and 35-year-old Wahome Simon Gititu. At the time, reports released by the Ukraine military’s Defense Intelligence of Ukraine unit said that these Kenyans had been working for security companies in Qatar from where they were lured into joining the Russia army in its aggression against Ukraine.
For Russia, the young Kenyan men they are recruiting, and many others from different African countries, are disposable. Their vulnerability amd desperation to make money openly evident, the Russians send them to war as their frontline.
These Kenyans are the first to receive fire when things get thick. They act as a protective vest for the Russian forces.
In one video that was recently circulated online, Russian forces were seen recording Kenyan men in the warzones and mocking them in Russian languages, labeling them as fools who would die in the war.
In one video that was shared by Ukraine intelligence, a Russia soldier was captured on video bragging how Russia had so many disposable recruits from Africa.
“Behind their backs, he comments in Russian that they are essentially disposable cannon fodder,” Ukraine’s intelligence interpreted the message.
The Russian soldier went on to say:
“Look how many disposables are here. They’re even singing. So cheerful. No problem – once they’re sent to the assault, they’ll sing a different tune.”
According to a report by the the National Intelligence Service (NIS), Kenyan men who were recruited to go fight for Russia started off by leaving the country on tourist visas. They would travel via Istanbul, Turkey, and via the United Arab Emirates.
The reports states that the government started rejecting travels to Russia via the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), these recruits started using alternative routes that include travel to Russia via Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Africa.
READ MORE: Blood money Russia is using to lure Kenyan men into war with Ukraine
The recruits are being hired through recruitment agencies that are based in Kenya. The report states that these recruitment agencies have also been colluding with staff at the JKIA, immigration officials, rogue officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Anti-Narcotics and National Employment Authority officers in order for the recruits to be allowed safe passage via the JKIA.
There’s also the allure of monetary rewards by Russia. It is claimed that men who are recruited into the Russian army as mercenaries are paid an initial payment of approximately Sh4.4 million within the first three weeks after signing the contract. They are then paid a monthly compensation of Sh540,000.
In the event a recruit suffers injury in the war, he is paid Sh5 million while compensation for those killed in Ukraine has been set at Sh24 million.
A related report by the NIS that was presented to parliament placed the monthly salaries that are promised to these recruits at Sh350,000 with bonuses of Sh900,000. It is however not clear if the recruits ever receive these monies.
