South Africans “lured into battle lines” in the now four-year-old Russo/Ukraine conflict are either back or on their way home, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Four of a 17-strong group of men aged between 20 and 39 touched down at OR Tambo international Airport last week in the wake of a telephone conversation between Ramaphosa and his Russian Federation counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
A Tuesday, 24 February, South African Presidency statement has it safe return of the men was “secured” following distress calls. They were apparently recruited for protection training in mid-last year and found themselves in Ukraine’s North Donetsk region where there is regular conflict between Russian and Ukrainian forces. The South Africans were reported fighting alongside Russian soldiers.
Putin, according to the Tuesday statement, pledged his support to returning the South Africans during a 10 February phone call with Ramaphosa which earned the long-serving Russian strongman a vote of gratitude.
Of the 13 still in Russia one is hospitalised, another is being processed ahead of finalising travel arrangements and 11 will “soon” be on their way back to South Africa. South Africa’s diplomatic corps in Moscow is continuously monitoring the hospitalised man.
An investigation into the circumstances leading to the “mercenary recruitment” continues with five arrests and one court appearance in – Kempton Park – to date. The five were released on bail – the trial has yet to start.
The daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, has been named as the alleged recruiter in the scheme, an allegation she denies.
Earlier South African international relations and co-operation minister Ronald Lamola was reported as saying the return negotiations were “complicated’ because the men were not recruited directly to the Russian Federation Army.
The four back in South Africa were taken into police custody as they face charges in connection with the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act of 1998. They were subsequently released to their homes after police questioning.
Relatives of the men told the BBC that when they had arrived in Russia, they were given contracts to sign but as they were written in Russian they did not understand it was to fight as mercenaries against Ukrainian forces.
United24 Media reported that Russia was using the online gaming platform Discord to attract young South African men to join its military campaign in Ukraine. The recruitment process promised military contracts, Russian citizenship, and educational opportunities as incentives.
Two South African men, both in their early twenties, left South Africa in July 2024 after engaging with a Discord user while playing the military simulation game Arma 3, United24 Media reported. A source said the recruits met in Cape Town, visited the Russian consulate, and then travelled to Russia via the United Arab Emirates. Upon their arrival, they signed one-year military service contracts near Saint Petersburg. One of the men was subsequently killed in combat.
Russia has also targeted other African countries for recruits, including Kenya and Zimbabwe. Ukraine’s foreign minister said in November that more than 1 400 citizens from 36 African countries had been identified among Russian ranks, and last week Kenya’s National Intelligence Service said more than 1 000 Kenyans have been recruited to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war, with 89 currently on the front line.
Thierry Vircoulon, senior researcher at the French Institute of International Relations, and Vincent Gaudio, co-founder and investigator at Inpact, a Swiss NGO, at a webinar organised by the European Union last week said between 2023 and 2025, 1 417 Africans had been recruited to fight for Russia in Ukraine. With 94 fatalities, Cameroon had suffered the highest number of deaths, followed by Kenya and Egypt.
