European Parliament Adopts Resolution Condemning Russia's Recruitment of Africans as Human Trafficking and Potential Crime Against Humanity

The European Parliament voted on March 12, 2026 to adopt a resolution formally condemning Russia's recruitment of foreign nationals - in particular from African countries - for its war of aggression in Ukraine. The resolution passed by 479 votes in favor, 17 against, with 43 abstentions.

The resolution, titled "Human Trafficking and Grave Human Rights Violations Linked to the Recruitment of Non-Russian Nationals, in Particular from Africa, for Russia's War of Aggression in Ukraine," states unequivocally that these practices are grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Parliament's findings document the full scope of the scheme. Recruitment networks systematically target individuals from low-income areas, mainly through social media platforms, with false promises of employment, education or citizenship. Recruits are enticed to travel to Russia, deprived of their identity documents and forcibly conscripted under coercion or threats.

The resolution also highlights that hundreds of African women have reportedly been deceived into working in drone-assembling factories [the Alabuga Special Economic Zone - Ed.] in Russia under highly dangerous and exploitative conditions.

The Parliament specifically named Francis Ndung'u Ndarua - a Kenyan national fraudulently recruited and sent to the front in Ukraine - calling for his repatriation and demanding Russia inform his family of his whereabouts and health condition.

The resolution calls on the EU and its Member States to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities responsible, demands that social media platforms remove content used by Russian-linked recruitment networks, and urges all states to proactively warn their citizens against traveling to Russia on the basis of job or education offers.

The growing use of deceptive recruitment tactics coincides with Russia's expanding influence in African states, including through private military companies and information manipulation campaigns, the Parliament noted - connecting the recruitment pipeline directly to the Kremlin's broader geopolitical strategy on the continent.

Source: EU Parliament News Portal, Text of the EU Parliament Resolution