Kyiv Africa Forum: 2,982 Africans From 40 Countries Recruited Into Russia's Army - StopRussianRecruiters.org Launches to 68-Country Audience on Day One

On May 26, 2026 - Africa Day - Kyiv hosted the Ukraine-Africa Dialogue Platform forum. One of the central topics on the agenda was Russia's illegal recruitment of African nationals for its war against Ukraine.

Brigadier General Dmytro Usov, Secretary of Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, presented the scale of the operation. According to "I Want to Live" project data, at least 2,982 foreign nationals who signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense are citizens of 40 African countries. Dozens of POWs from 15 African countries are currently held in Ukrainian captivity.

Africa has become a particular focus of Russian recruiters for deliberate reasons: the continent's poorest states have proven convenient ground for building large-scale networks to recruit African men as replacements for Russia's battlefield losses. The scheme targets economic vulnerability - and it is working at scale.

In response, the Coordination Headquarters, jointly with Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, officially launched stoprussianrecruiters.org - an information resource documenting the main recruitment schemes, their geography, scale, and the individual recruiters operating across multiple countries on Russia's behalf, sending people to war for money.

The site was built to expose Russia's recruitment system, warn potential victims, and push for accountability for those who profit from sending foreign nationals to die in someone else's war for the Kremlin's interests.

The response was immediate: within 24 hours of launch, visitors from 68 countries had accessed the site. We are just getting started. Follow us on X for ongoing updates on Russia's global recruitment machine investigations, victim stories and latest developments. 

Source: Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War