Families of Kenyan recruits tricked into fighting in the Russian war demanded the sons return

Nairobi, Kenya — The families of Kenyan recruits duped with promises of work in Russia, which ended up on the front lines of fighting in Ukraine, petitioned the country’s parliament on Thursday to ban Kenyan recruitment into Moscow’s war effort.

Families now hold photographs of their sons who are on the front lines or who have been killed, wounded or missing in action. They marched through the streets of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, chanting slogans asking the authorities to bring their loved ones home.

Several protesters carried a huge white banner that read in bold red print in English: “Kenyans and families demand justice for their sons recruited into the Russian military.”

The government said last month that more than 1,000 Kenyans had been recruited to fight for Russia in Ukraine, and that at least 89 Kenyans were still on the front lines. It confirmed one death and said 39 Kenyans were hospitalized, 28 were missing and others had returned home.

Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi told The Associated Press last month that he would travel to Russia for what he called a “diplomatic approach” to “take advantage of someone in this misadventure.”

He said efforts were underway to release Kenyans held as prisoners of war in Ukraine and repatriate those still in Russia.

Yuriy Tokar, Ukraine’s ambassador to Kenya, told the AP on Wednesday that a Kenyan was a POW in Ukraine and noted that POWs are typically released at the end of a war under the Geneva Conventions. Still, Kyiv and Moscow have exchanged hundreds of soldiers and civilians on several occasions during the four-year war.

Lamech Mboga, whose brother traveled to Russia in August 2025, told the AP he believed his brother was a POW in Ukraine and appealed for his release.

An intelligence report by Majority Leader Kimani Ichungwa to Kenya’s parliament last month said Kenyan and Russian government officials colluded with recruitment agencies to lure Kenyans to the front lines.

Families petitioning parliament on Thursday said those behind the scheme to lure their loved ones should be prosecuted for “human trafficking, forced recruitment and possible violations of international humanitarian and labor laws”.

Two Kenyans have so far been charged with human trafficking in this case.