Citizens of South Africa have been unlawfully recruited into Russia’s occupation forces and deployed to fight against Ukraine. According to available data, at least 1,436 nationals from 36 African countries are currently fighting on Russia’s side in the war.
Russian state media are circulating a fresh “sensational” allegation, claiming that Ukraine is systematically recruiting mercenaries from South Africa. According to the narrative, Pretoria is supposedly scrambling to repatriate 17 South African citizens who were allegedly “deceived” by Kyiv with promises of lucrative contracts to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In November 2025, the South African government acknowledged that 17 of its citizens had ended up in a precarious situation on the front line in Ukraine. Later that month, reports emerged that the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma—now a sitting member of parliament—had been involved in recruiting men from South Africa and neighboring Botswana to serve with Russian occupation forces in the war against Ukraine.
According to a Bloomberg investigation, a group of young men from South Africa traveled to Russia in July 2025 after being contacted by the former president’s daughter and promised training as personal bodyguards for future work in her father’s political party. Instead of receiving that training, the men were incorporated into Russian military units and sent to fight on the front lines in Ukraine.
On December 16, 2025, Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, confirmed that South African nationals had been pulled into Russia’s war against Ukraine after being lured by promises of lucrative employment. He said the government was in talks with Moscow to secure their return.
“The process to retrieve those young men remains a very sensitive process.… In fact, the emphasis is more with the authorities in Russia and less so with the authorities in Ukraine, because the information that we have is that they were bungled into the Russian military forces,” Vincent Magwenya said.
Earlier, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that at least 1,436 citizens from 36 African countries have been identified as fighting on Russia’s side against Ukraine. He stressed that the figure reflects only confirmed cases and that the true number of foreign nationals misled into joining Russia’s war effort is likely far higher.
“Russia recruits nationals of African countries using a variety of methods. Some are offered money, while others are duped and do not realize what they are signing up for or are forced to do so under duress. Signing a contract is equivalent to signing a death sentence.
Foreign citizens in the Russian army have a sad fate. Most of them are immediately sent to the so-called ‘meat assaults,’ where they are quickly killed. The Russian command understands that there will be no accountability for the killed foreigner, so they are treated as second-rate, expendable human material. Most mercenaries do not survive more than a month,” Andrii Sybiha said.
Russia routinely deploys the “mercenary” narrative to mischaracterize foreign volunteers in Ukraine. In reality, there are no mercenaries in the Ukrainian armed forces. Foreign volunteers who officially join Ukraine’s military do so legally under the 1977 Protocol to the Geneva Conventions (Part I, Article 1). They operate fully under Ukrainian command, are integrated into the state military structure, and are accountable to Ukrainian authorities while fighting against Russian forces.
Further details on the legal status of foreign fighters in Ukraine are available in the StopFake article, Fake: Ukraine’s Intelligence Agency Acknowledges NATO Mercenaries Fighting on Frontlines.
