Russia turns Africans’ desire to find work or get an education into ...

Russia is turning Africans’ desire to find work or get an education into a tool for replenishing its army. Fake job offers, promises of high salaries and Russian citizenship, deception and coercion – Russian recruiters are willing to use all sorts of methods.

The French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) has published a study on Russia’s recruitment of citizens of African countries. Its author, Thierry Vircoulon, spoke directly with African mercenaries held in Ukrainian captivity, among others. He learned the details of their recruitment, how foreigners are treated in the Russian army, and how they are treated in Ukrainian captivity literally firsthand.

Ifri concluded that, despite Moscow’s public promises to stop what are essentially abductions and return citizens of some African countries to their homelands, recruitment continues. Vircoulon believes it can be countered through international cooperation, the exposure of recruitment networks, tighter oversight, and informing people about the risks of looking for work in Russia.

Notably, the document was made public just before the Russia–Africa summit, which began in Moscow today. The author is certain that the recruitment of Africans will be the “elephant in the room” and will surely be raised by guests from the African continent behind the scenes of the official talks.

As a reminder, representatives of 18 African countries have been taken prisoner by Ukraine during the full-scale invasion. Since the war began, Russia has not taken back a single one of them in an exchange. To change this, African prisoners of war appealed to participants in the Russia–Africa summit, asking them to help them return home.

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www.ifri.org

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