"You Charcoal, You'll Be the Can Opener Today": PBS Newshour Investigation Exposes Russia's Use of African Recruits as Disposable Frontline Bait

A PBS Newshour investigation has documented what Ukraine's foreign minister describes as the deliberate logic behind Russia's recruitment of African fighters: they are cheaper to kill.

"In case of death or disappearance, they are ideal soldiers. Why? Because there is no public resonance. If you lose a Russian soldier, you must pay the family $50,000. They value them less than their own people - as so-called meat assaults."

That assessment, from Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, frames what the investigation found on the ground: African men lured with promises of employment, thrown to the front as disposable manpower, and subjected to beatings, electrocution, and racist abuse from the Russian soldiers they fight alongside.

See also: At least 485 Africans killed in Russia's army - we publish their names. 

The Opening Image: A Man Being Electrocuted

The report opens with video of a Russian soldier electrocuting an African recruit. As the man screams, the soldier addresses him: "You non-Russian piece of shit."

The footage - which circulated on Russian social media - is not an anomaly. It is the operating culture. PBS describes the treatment awaiting African troops in Russia's army as "beatings, electrocution, and worse," driven by racism and lawlessness within Moscow's military. Some of the estimated 4,000 African fighters currently serving are the specific targets of abuse from commanders and fellow soldiers.

Francis Dungun Darua: "You'll Be the Can Opener Today"

A second video documents a different kind of abuse. In it, a man identified as Francis Dungun Darua of Kenya stands with an anti-tank mine strapped to his chest. A Russian soldier, apparently armed, appears to be forcing him toward the front line.

"You charcoal, you'll be the can opener today," a voice says.

Since the footage appeared, his family in Kenya say they have not heard from him. His whereabouts are unknown.
The term "can opener" is Russian military slang for a soldier sent ahead to trigger mines or draw enemy fire - a human probe. Forcing a recruit at gunpoint to perform this function on a suicide mission, while filming it and posting it online, is a statement about how Russia's military regards the African men it has recruited.

See also: The Sun Investigation Reveals Putin's Foreign Recruits Are Threatened at Gunpoint

The Scale: 18,500 Targets for 2026

Ukrainian authorities estimate that Russia has recruited 27,000 foreign nationals from 130 countries since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. Approximately 4,000 African fighters are currently serving in the Russian army.

But the scale is accelerating sharply.

According to Kyiv-based war crimes watchdog Truth Hounds, Russia is targeting 18,500 new foreign recruits in 2026 alone - nearly a sixfold increase on the recruitment rate at the start of the war. Russia offers foreign fighters $1,500 to $2,000 per month, a salary that looks transformative against the economic conditions of the countries it targets most heavily.
Kenza Rharmoui, one of the authors of the Truth Hounds report, explains the targeting logic: "We were talking about people facing lack of opportunities - professional opportunities, economic opportunities." The offer is calibrated to where it will be hardest to refuse.

What recruits are not told is the survival rate. "All the persons we spoke to were fighting for less than two months, one month. So we were talking about really short time in the field - the chances are pretty high that you'll die before you even get to the end of the year to get your citizenship," Rharmoui told PBS. "Once you're in this, there is no step back."

Gerald Kamau: Last Message, November 2025

Peter Kamau gave his brother Gerald a ride to Nairobi's international airport last October. Gerald said he had secured a job abroad that would help support his young family.

"On the way to the airport, he tells me he's heading to Russia. And when I heard Russia - I trembled, I shook."

After arriving in St. Petersburg, Gerald sent one text: he would be working as a cook in the military.

"It was only that casual greeting - that was it. I've never heard from him since then."

That last message was in November 2025. Peter fears Gerald ended up at the front. 

See also: Erastus Mundia left Kenya for a job in Russia. His mother is still waiting.

Women at the Drone Factory

The recruitment is not limited to men. An estimated 1,000 young women from across Africa have been recruited to work at Alabuga, one of Russia's largest military manufacturing facilities.

The Alabuga Start program's promotional videos promise professional training in logistics, catering, and hospitality. On arrival, recruits sign a non-disclosure agreement and discover the truth: they will be assembling suicide drones - the same drones being used to kill people in Ukraine.

See also: Inside Alabuga: The Drone Factory Recruiting the World's Vulnerable Under the Guise of Education

Governments Responding - Too Slowly

African governments have begun reacting, though the investigation suggests the pace lags the scale of the problem.
South Africa secured the release of 17 citizens who had been lured with promises of bodyguard training and ended up on the frontline. Kenya's foreign minister traveled to Moscow to demand an end to recruitment after intelligence officials confirmed more than 1,000 Kenyan nationals had traveled to Russia to fight. Zimbabwe authorities began prosecuting individuals involved in malicious recruitment schemes. 

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Sybiha told PBS his country is actively expanding its diplomatic presence in Africa to counter Russian recruitment - and named the African Union directly: "Mercenaries from Africa should be one of the priorities of the African Union - to prevent, to stop these illegal activities in Africa. Because of the scale, it is increasing."

For Anyone Considering Russia

The promise is a salary, often payed for jobs that are not related to the army. The reality, documented across court cases, survivor accounts, and now international television, is consistent: documents confiscated, frontline deployment within days, and for the men Russia considers most expendable, suicide missions.

If you or your relative has already signed a contract and wants a way out - there is a safe way out offered by Ukraine. Read more here. 

Source: PBS Newshour