South Africa to Probe Recruitment of Citizens as Mercenaries in Russia-Ukraine War
South Africa’s government has launched an investigation into how 17 of its citizens were recruited to fight as mercenaries in the Russia-Ukraine war.
President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the probe after the men, aged between 20 and 39, sent distress calls requesting help to escape from Ukraine’s Donbas region.
The men were reportedly lured into joining mercenary forces under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts. The government statement did not specify which side of the conflict the men were fighting on, though most of the Donbas region where they are trapped is under Russian military control.
Under South African law, it is illegal for citizens to provide military assistance to foreign governments or participate in foreign armies unless authorized by the government. Most of the mercenaries came from KwaZulu-Natal, which has one of the highest poverty rates in the country.
India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Kenya are among other countries whose citizens have reportedly been recruited under false pretenses to join Russia’s war effort. South Africa previously warned its citizens in August about fake job offers in Russia circulating on social media, particularly after reports that some South African women had been tricked into working in Russian drone factories.
