African countries, including Malawi, have voiced growing alarm over Russia’s practice of using Africans as expendable fighters in its war against Ukraine.
Recent video footage shows one soldier with a landmine strapped to his chest, while The Telegraph reported last week that Kenya has identified at least 82 citizens entangled in the conflict.
Hundreds of youths from nations like Malawi are reportedly trapped in a war-drone factory after being lured by fake educational scholarships and job offers through Russia’s Alabuga Start Programme. Others have been recruited via similar scams promising undefined high-paying jobs, only to be sent to the front lines.
In a Ukrainian military video, a Ugandan prisoner of war revealed he took out a bank loan to travel to Russia, expecting a supermarket job. A Cameroonian captive echoed this, saying he went for work in a shampoo factory. These men did not enlist willingly—they were deceived.
The Alabuga programme is expanding into Latin America and South Asia, targeting 8,500 new workers in 2025 for drone production in facilities built for up to 41,000 people, according to media reports.
The international community is responding: Interpol is probing the issue in Botswana, while Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania monitor closely.
A new online video captures a Russian soldier hurling racist insults at an African recruit named Francis, calling him a “can opener”—slang for strapping a TM-62 anti-tank mine to his chest to blow open Ukrainian bunkers. The Russian mocks: “He’s about to run, gonna be hopping through the woods.”
Ukraine’s Ambassador to South Africa, Olexander Scherba, told The Telegraph that Russia treats Africans as “meat for the meat grinder,” tricking them with charm offensives and salary promises to offset Moscow’s heavy casualties. Thousands are believed to have been lured this way.
Blantyre-based peace and security expert James Mwanza urged Malawi not to ignore the crisis.
“It’s vital to investigate those reportedly trapped there—they’re our citizens,” he told this publication. “If they’re indeed involved, we must start the process to bring them home. These videos are shocking.”
He noted that other African nations have already engaged Russian authorities for releases.
Putin appears to view Africa as a “conveyor belt” for troop recruitment and training.