Victor Mbugua Kinuthia is Another Victim of Russian Recruitment Buried Without a Body

Residents of Gatundu South are mourning Victor Mbugua Kinuthia, who reportedly died while fighting in Russia's war against Ukraine. His body could not be brought home. His family held a burial without his remains.

The announcement was made by local outlet Mathira Newspaper. 

A Pattern With a Name

Victor's family is not the first in Kenya to stand at an empty grave.

In western Kenya, the family of Oscar Kagola Mutoka - a former Kenyan soldier - went through the same. Oscar told his father he had found a job in Russia. His father warned him. Oscar did not listen. The family learned of his death through informal channels. They waited months for his body. The Kenyan government promised to help. Nothing came. They held a funeral without the body.

His father later said: "The worst part is that I cannot even try to imagine where he is buried - or if his body was thrown away in a forest in Russia, a country he had gone to very far away."

Oscar had been building a house for his father. The construction will never be finished.

Russia Does Not Return What It Takes

The absence of a body is not an oversight. It is the consequence of how Russia treats the foreign nationals it recruits.
Men from Kenya, Bolivia, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh - and dozens of other countries - are brought in through fake job offers, handed military contracts written in Russian that they cannot read, given minimal training, and sent to storm positions on the front lines. When they die, they die as expendable labour, not as soldiers with rights and families owed an explanation.

In Bolivia, cousins Ivan Valdivia, 28, and José María Soleto Ayala, 29 - promised work as bricklayers - ended up in Russian uniform. When they were killed, their families held a symbolic wake in Santa Cruz: photographs surrounded by candles and flowers, no coffins, no remains. A third young man from the same trip told his mother by audio message that he was being sent to the front line. She has not heard from him since May 20.

"With lies they told them they were going as bricklayers, electricians, and to clean rubble from destroyed houses," his mother said.

Victor Mbugua Kinuthia's family now knows this grief. Oscar Kagola Mutoka's father knows it. The families in Bolivia know it. The thread connecting all of them is not bad luck. It is a deliberate system that recruits, deploys, and discards - and returns nothing.

What Kenya Has Seen

Kenya's government has acknowledged that at least 289 Kenyans have joined Russian forces. Russian recruiters target Kenyans through fraudulent job offers promising high salaries, residency rights, and travel abroad. The government has urged citizens to use only accredited agencies and to treat unusually attractive overseas offers with extreme caution.

A Warning That Keeps Being Ignored

If you or someone you know has received an offer of work in Russia - do not accept it. Numerous people were scammed and ended up on the frontline. Not all of them made out alive. 

If you or your relative were drafted into Russia's army - do not hesitate and take a safe path out - with Ukraine's "I Want to Live" project. Explore this option here.

Source: Mathira Newspaper