Russia has stepped up its recruitment of African nationals into its armed forces — Sibiga
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga spoke about this during a conversation with journalists.
“We are seeing a dangerous trend of Russia recruiting citizens from certain African countries, or indeed many African countries, into its military,” Sibiga said.
According to him, this immediately prompted many African countries to appeal to Ukraine for help in repatriating their citizens.
“We are checking whether we have data on Africans fighting on Russian territory, and how to prevent and stop this illegal activity by the Russians, not only in Africa, but they are currently focusing on Africa,” the minister added.
Sybiga also said that he had spoken with his colleagues about increased liability for illegal mercenary recruitment.
“And many countries have introduced criminal liability for mercenary activities. Thanks to our intelligence services, we have shared information on the networks of people involved in mercenary activities,” noted the Foreign Minister.
Ukraine is asking the African presidency to make this one of the topics, focal points or priorities for next year. Because this is a growing problem.
Furthermore, Russia is recruiting mercenaries in Latin America as well.
"That is why it is very important to identify them. Because we have lists. A list of foreign nationals fighting on Russia’s side. We have a list of those killed. And we have our own list of those held captive here," Sibiga added.
He said that he had recently visited the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
“We spoke with them. We are granting access to the consuls of these countries so that they can see for themselves. Because Ukraine is honouring its obligations under the Geneva Conventions. And importantly, Ukraine is acting as an ally here. They (African partners – ed.) are turning to us to discuss how to tackle this issue together,” the minister noted.
As a reminder, it was previously reported that Russia is becoming increasingly dependent on foreign mercenaries due to heavy losses on the front line.
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