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Kenya is demanding clarity from Russia over allegations that its citizens are being enlisted to fight in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the nation’s foreign minister has confirmed.
In a recent interview, Musalia Mudavadi described the recruitment of Kenyans as both “unacceptable and clandestine.” Speaking with the BBC on Tuesday, he emphasized the urgency of the situation and the Kenyan government’s firm stance against such practices.
To combat this issue, the government has already taken steps to dismantle illegal recruitment networks. Mudavadi also mentioned plans to push for a formal agreement with Moscow, aimed at preventing the conscription of Kenyan nationals into foreign conflicts.
An estimated 200 Kenyans have reportedly been recruited to fight for Russia. The foreign minister highlighted the distressing impact on families, who have faced significant challenges in recovering the remains of relatives who have perished in the war.
Musalia Mudavadi made these remarks following the signing of a bilateral agreement to support Kenyan police officers participating in the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti, during an event held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on May 12, 2025.
“It is difficult because, remember, it depends on where the body has been found,” the foreign minister told the BBC. “There some have been found in Ukraine – we are also working with the government of Ukraine to try and get the remains of those people repatriated.”
In a November post on X, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv estimates that at least 1,436 foreign nationals from 36 African countries have been recruited to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine, warning the true number may be higher.
Sybiha said Russia uses a range of tactics to recruit foreigners, including financial incentives, deception and coercion.
Susan Khandasi Kuloba, whose son David Kuloba died while fighting for Russia in Ukraine, poses with portraits of him during an interview at her home in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya, on Dec. 2, 2025. (Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)
“Signing a contract is equivalent to signing a death sentence,” he wrote. “Foreign citizens in the Russian army have a sad fate. Most of them are immediately sent to the so-called ‘meat assaults,’ where they are quickly killed.”
Mudavadi said in December that the government had received multiple emails and urgent communications from Kenyans in distress at military camps in Russia.
Evans Khagola, cousin of Oscar Khagola, holds a printed photo sent by Oscar to his father showing him and other soldiers when they started training in Russia, photographed in Nairobi, Kenya, on Jan. 21, 2026. (Ed Ram/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“Several of them have reported injuries among our nationals and others stranded, following attempted recruitment into the violent conflicts,” he told the Kenya News Agency, the country’s state-run news service.
Mudavadi said the government has since tightened recruitment regulations, deregistering more than 600 non-compliant agencies and strengthening job verification through the Diaspora Placement Agency to curb exploitation.