Russia Recruits Africans for War Through Job Scams and Passport Confiscation

In the Kharkiv region, the Ukrainian Defense Forces eliminated 34-year-old Nigerian mercenary Ayebusiwa Olabode Victor, who ended up on the front lines due to an extensive network of deception.

This was reported by the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.

The killed foreign national signed a contract with the Russian army in late February near the village of Grafskoye, where he later died after a week of training and promises of “easy money.”

He signed the contract just one week after the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially expressed concern over cases of illegal recruitment of its citizens to participate in foreign armed conflicts.

The Nigerian Foreign Ministry’s reaction came after the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine released information about the fate of two other Nigerian citizens — Hamzat Kazin Kalavole and Mbah Stephen Udoku.

Russian Ambassador to Nigeria Andrei Podolishchev denied the Kremlin’s involvement in the illegal recruitment of foreigners.

At the same time, Mikhail Zvinchuk, a propagandist close to the Russian Ministry of Defense, publicly described and confirmed the current scheme for recruiting people to fight in the war against Ukraine. According to the published data, residents of African countries are lured to Russia through job postings that are widely circulated on social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp.

Job seekers are issued visas and given one-way tickets; upon arrival in Moscow, an intermediary takes their passports, ostensibly to process documents, and checks them into hotels.

Within a few days, it becomes clear that the jobs do not exist, the visas have been revoked, and the foreigners have no money for the return trip.

Recruits are given a choice: deportation with heavy debts, imprisonment, or signing a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense, the contents of which they often do not understand due to the language barrier.

It is currently known that at least 215 Nigerians have signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense, of whom at least 25 have already been killed or are considered missing in action.