Overview
- An online video shows men singing a Ugandan song in a snowy forest as a Russian voice calls them 'cannon fodder', drawing fresh attention to alleged recruitment.
- Richard Akantoran, identified as a Ugandan, says in a Ukrainian army video that he was promised civilian work in Russia, forced at gunpoint to sign a military contract, and later fled a Russian unit.
- AFP, citing intelligence sources, reports nine men were intercepted in August at Entebbe airport en route to Russia, part of a larger group of more than 100 allegedly recruited covertly.
- A Russian national detained in connection with those August arrests was later released, investigations reportedly stalled, and authorities have not issued official totals.
- A veterans’ representative says some of the association’s roughly 20,000 members were targeted with bogus job offers, claims more than ten went to Russia with three deaths, and notes travel routes through Kenya as Kenya and South Africa report similar cases.