DW Documentary Follows Kenyan and Indian Recruits From Job Offers to Russia's Front Line

A DW documentary filmed in Ukraine, Kenya, and India traces how men from outside Russia end up in its army and what happens to them there. Reporters met Ukrainian units on the Kupiansk sector, relatives of dead Kenyans in Nairobi, Indian men who returned from the front, and foreign prisoners of war in western Ukraine. Their conclusion: the recruits' paths often begin with a job or study offer, and in the cases examined, agents appear to be at the heart of it. Russia's government, asked about the recruitment, answered that no recruitment information is available. The documentary is avaulable on YouTube: 

Denis Ombwori: Killed on His First Mission

DW reports that Denis Ombwori, a Kenyan who had worked as a security guard in Qatar, was killed on November 28, 2025, during his first combat mission near Lyman in Donetsk Oblast, along with two compatriots. Ukrainian soldiers found their bodies about two months later and recovered personal documents, which Ukrainian intelligence then released. DW notes that during those two months no one on the Russian side recovered the bodies.

DW says that on September 25, 2025, in Moscow, Dennis signed a power of attorney giving a man from Kyrgyzstan access to the Russian bank account where his wages were to be paid. DW presumes the man was his recruiter and that this was how the agent was to collect his commission. Dennis's address in the documents also appeared in the papers of other Kenyans - a holiday resort near Yaroslavl, about 270 km from Moscow. A second document, issued to Dennis and another Kenyan, led DW to an address where military recruitment billboards are visible on Google Maps; the one-year contract was effective September 27, 2025. Dennis's sister Jecy, in Nairobi, told DW that the family has not been able to bury him. She had not initially mentioned that another brother, Eric Nyambura, was also in the Russian army; DW reports he is believed to have died in the Kharkiv area. Jecy said he was recruited around June or August the previous year.

David: A Russian Word List and a Last Voice Note

DW also spoke to the mother of a Kenyan named David, who had worked on construction sites in Ethiopia and Somalia. In August 2025 he went back to an agency that arranged jobs abroad and came home with a list of Russian words and phrases to learn in two weeks. His mother says he told her he was going to work as a security guard, with no mention of the army. He was issued an army ID card on August 22, 2025. In his last voice note, on September 30, he said he was going on a mission the next day and that if he died, she should apply to the Russian embassy for compensation. On October 18 another Kenyan recruit messaged her that David had "succumbed to a missile attack."

How the Kenyan Offers Worked

DW cites documents first reported by Kenyan public media. The recruitment started with a bulk WhatsApp message advertising soldier jobs in the Russian army, promising a one-time bonus of around 10,500 euros and a monthly salary of 1,840 euros. The recruit was to pay the recruiters about 4,300 euros. Applicants were expected to be ex-soldiers, former police officers, or private security guards. DW says a list of suspected recruits suggests the Russian embassy in Nairobi was involved at least in the visa process. The men were housed in apartments near the airport before departure; in September 2025, police stopped more than 20 Kenyans there as they were about to leave the country. Kenya's intelligence service, DW reports, says around 1,000 Kenyans are serving in the Russian army. Ukrainian military intelligence told DW isolated Kenyan recruitments began in 2024 and became systematic in 2025.

Indians: Tourist Visas, Student Visas, and a Choice Between Prison and the Army

DW followed seven Indian men who posted a distress call in early 2024, saying they had come to Russia as tourists and were being sent to the front. According to DW, the group was accused of immigration violations and given a choice between prison and an army contract. One of them, Gurpreet Singh of Punjab, was allowed to leave Russia after pressure from the Indian government, but as a condition of his return had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Karan, 26, told DW that a recruitment agent promised him a job in Russia; he flew to Saint Petersburg in mid-March 2024. Once there, he says, he was told that if he wanted to go back to India he would have to repay the money spent on him, so he signed a one-year military contract on April 10, 2024. DW links a document he signed to military unit 91706, part of the 102nd Motorized Rifle Regiment. He says he had one week of training. In Bakhmut he was sent out twice a day to recover bodies, and alleges that only Sri Lankans, Indians, and Bangladeshis were sent out while Russian commanders stayed inside giving orders by radio. He also alleges that anyone who tried to escape was beaten. He was released after five months under pressure from the Indian government.

Samarjeet, the son of Charanjeet Singh, went to Moscow on July 16, 2025, on a visa for what his father understood to be training as an X-ray technician; agents told the family he would spend the first three months learning Russian, with an invitation from Moscow State Linguistic University. His father says Samarjeet later explained the uniform as a 15-day training course in emergency weapon use. The family last spoke to him on September 9; his death certificate is dated September 10, 2025, and gives the town of Krasnoarmiisk, the name Russia uses for Pokrovsk. His father was handed the remains weeks before DW's report.

A Manhunt and a Non-Answer

DW says India has opened a human trafficking investigation. One suspect is a YouTuber known as "Baba Vlogs," who promoted jobs and emigration to Russia; he and other intermediaries are the subject of an international manhunt. DW says recruits are also being brought in from Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Cuba, and from Africa.

No Exchange for Foreigners

In a prisoner-of-war camp in western Ukraine, DW met Russian, Chechen, Cuban, and Kenyan prisoners all waiting for exchange. Some foreign prisoners told DW they want to go back to Russia, but DW says only prisoners born in Russia are being returned. An Egyptian man recruited while a student in Russia has been in the camp for three years.

A Safe Way Out

Kenyans, Indians, and other foreign nationals lured into Russia's armed forces have an option to safely escape the battlefield with Ukraine's "I Want to Live" project. See our FAQ to find out more.