African countries demand that russia stop recruiting mercenaries
Ghana has called on russia to stop recruiting its citizens to fight in the war against Ukraine. The demand was made officially during a meeting between the foreign ministers of Ghana and russia.
Notably, russian foreign minister lavrov himself confirmed that similar requests have come from other African countries. Authorities in South Africa, Kenya and Botswana also refuse to tolerate the recruitment of their citizens for the war and are demanding that russia stop.
The problem has reached a significant scale across the region. According to international media, by the end of 2025, russia had recruited around 18,000 citizens from 128 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. At least 3,300 of them were killed. By the end of this year, the kremlin also plans to recruit at least 18,500 foreign nationals.
The Center has repeatedly reported that russia uses various schemes to recruit mercenaries, promising them jobs as “bodyguards,” large sums of money, russian citizenship and more.
The kremlin seeks to compensate for the russian army’s enormous battlefield losses by any means necessary, including through the recruitment of mercenaries from countries of the Global South.
