Ramaphosa, Putin discuss return of S. Africans fighting with Russia – Pretoria

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa held talks on Tuesday with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on returning South Africans lured into fighting for Russian forces in Ukraine, his office said.

The South African government said in November it had received “distress calls” from 17 men who were trapped in the epicentre of the fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region after being tricked into joining mercenary forces.

President Ramaphosa and President Putin pledged their support to the process of returning South Africans fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine,” the president’s office said in a statement.

In this regard, teams from both sides will continue their engagements towards the finalisation of this process,” it said.

Ukraine’s foreign minister said in November that more than 1,400 citizens from 36 African countries had been identified among the Russian ranks.

An AFP investigation spoke to four Kenyans recently returned from Russia who said they were tricked by a Nairobi recruitment agency into travelling to Russia under false promises of well-paying jobs.

In December, Kenyan authorities said around 200 citizens had been sent to fight in Ukraine, of whom 23 had since been repatriated.

This is an underestimate, said the four Kenyan recruits who spoke to AFP.

The daughter of South African former president Jacob Zuma is among several accused of recruiting men to join Russian mercenaries in the Ukraine war.

Pretoria warned its citizens last year not to fall for recruitment scams, after multiple social media influencers shared campaigns promising young women jobs in a Russia-based programme that has been accused of abuses.

Culled from vanguard