Kenyan citizens will no longer be recruited to take part in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Such a commitment, according to Kenya’s foreign minister Musalia Mudavadi, was given by Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.
“The minister discussed with us issues concerning Kenyans who are in Russia, especially those participating in the special military operation (SMO). We agreed that Kenyans will no longer be recruited into the armed forces through the ministry of defence. Kenyans will no longer be involved in the SMO,” Mudavadi said (quoted by TASS).
He also noted that Kenyan authorities are ready to provide the necessary assistance to their citizens who took part in the war and are “currently undergoing treatment” in Russia.
Ahead of his visit to Moscow, Mudavadi said that Kenyan citizens were among Russian forces, having ended up there “voluntarily or involuntarily.”
In February, Kenya’s National Intelligence Service reported that more than 1,000 Kenyans had been recruited into the Russian army to take part in the war against Ukraine. According to its data, 89 Kenyan nationals were on the front line at the beginning of 2026. Some of them, it is said, responded to misleading job advertisements.