Families of young Kenyan men who found themselves fighting in Ukraine after being duped into joining the Russian military are calling on the Kenyan government to provide information on their whereabouts – and for a ban on any future recruitment.
More than 1,000 Kenyan nationals have been recruited to fight for Russia after allegedly being duped by the promise of employment, according to a report by the Kenyan National Intelligence Service (NIS) presented to parliament last month.
The figure is significantly higher than the 200 announced by the country's foreign affairs ministry in November.
Some are former soldiers lured by promises of high salaries. Others thought they were going to work as drivers or security guards, but ended up being deployed to the Russian-Ukrainian front.
Several dozen Kenyan families, desperate for news, took to the streets of central Nairobi on Thursday with the message "Bring us back our sons".
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An 'unbearable' wait
Susan Kuloba came clutching photographs of her eldest son, David. She said he'd been promised a job as a security guard but ended up on the front line.
She hasn't heard from him since October. Another Kenyan told her he may have been killed.
"He sent me this photo – you can see him in military uniform," she told RFI's correspondent in Nairobi. "He was frightened, but what could he do? He told me that if he refused, the commander himself would kill him.
"All I want now is my son back. If he is alive, bring him back to me. If he is dead, bring him back too, so I can give him a proper burial. Waiting, with no idea where he is, is unbearable."
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'Get some answers'
Janet Wainaina's brother Samuel also left Kenya believing he had a security job lined up.
"We've been to the Russian embassy, the Ukrainian embassy, the ministry responsible for the diaspora, the foreign affairs ministry – nobody is able to give us any answers," she said.
"We've had no word on whether he is alive, in hospital, or dead. We want our government to engage with the Russian government and get some answers."
The protesters handed over a petition to the authorities demanding greater action – including the repatriation of their relatives and an official declaration banning the recruitment of Kenyan nationals into the Russian military.
An investigation published in February found that Russia had recruited more than 1,400 African nationals to fight in Ukraine, with more than one in five reported dead.
Following the investigation, the Russian Embassy in Nairobi denied that Moscow was involved in illegally recruiting Kenyans to fight in Ukraine, adding that foreign citizens could voluntarily join its armed forces.
This article was adapted from the original version in French by RFI's correspondent in Nairobi, Albane Thirouard.
