• Russia recruits African fighters and female workers to support its war effort in Ukraine, according to IFRI.
• Recruiters target young Africans seeking economic migration through deceptive job and training offers.
• African governments have begun investigations, but most have taken limited action.

Russia conducts recruitment campaigns for female labor and non-professional fighters in sub-Saharan Africa to support its war effort in Ukraine, according to a report published on Wednesday, December 18, 2025, by the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI). The report says Russian and African networks deceive poor urban youth attracted by migration to Europe through false offers of training and employment.

Titled “Russia’s Policy of Recruiting Fighters and Female Workers in Sub-Saharan Africa,” the report recalls that the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which began on February 24, 2022, rapidly became international. Moscow and Kyiv quickly mobilized allies to secure political and diplomatic backing as well as military and economic resources.

Both belligerents also sought to recruit foreigners to support their respective war efforts. Ukraine accepted foreign volunteer fighters, while Russia implemented a structured recruitment policy targeting two categories of foreigners: workers for the defense industry and fighters for the front.

This policy applies worldwide, but sub-Saharan Africa holds particular appeal due to widespread poverty and strong migration pressure. The report urges caution with numerical estimates. Ukrainian authorities said in November 2025 that they had identified more than 1,400 African fighters on the Russian side from 36 countries. A Ukrainian official also said in October 2025 that Russian forces included 18,000 foreign fighters.

The report also shows that Moscow initially recruited Africans already present in Russia by using threats, deception, and offers of permanent residence permits or naturalization. Russia later activated recruitment networks inside Africa itself. The Wagner Group conducted early recruitment in countries where it had operated for years, including the Central African Republic, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Recruiters later expanded operations to countries without Russian paramilitary forces and without diplomatic alignment with Moscow, including Kenya, Botswana, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Cameroon.

Recruitment of female workers occurs through official channels, while recruitment of foreign fighters remains secret and illegal. In both cases, recruiters exploit young urban Africans’ demand for economic migration as Europe becomes increasingly inaccessible.

Attractive Job Offers

Recruiters present fighter recruitment as financially attractive job offers by African standards and often conceal the true nature of the work. Campaigns target weapons professionals, including soldiers and police officers, as well as civilians.

Testimonies cited in the report show that recruitment packages include an initial payment of about €2,300 ($2,707) at contract signing, monthly salaries of €2,300 to €2,500, health insurance, and Russian passports for recruits and close family members. Russia has also eased citizenship rules for foreigners signing contracts with the Ministry of Defense since the war began.

Separately, the “Alabuga Start” program recruits young women to work in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, a major military-industrial complex producing drones for the Russian army. Job offers advertise salaries ranging from $500 to $1,380, career progression, and skills development. The program covers round-trip airfare, accommodation, and medical insurance.

On the Russian side, recruitment networks rely on Wagner, diplomatic missions, and commercial and cultural entities. On the African side, recruiters rely on individual intermediaries, overseas employment agencies, and youth and women’s organizations.

In September 2025, Kenyan authorities arrested around 20 citizens preparing to travel to Russia, exposing a network using individual intermediaries and travel agencies. In November 2025, South African media reported that Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, daughter of former President Jacob Zuma and a member of parliament from his party, allegedly took part in recruiting 17 South Africans aged 20 to 39 for the Russian army.

                                                               Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla

By contrast, recruitment of female workers for Alabuga operates openly through intergovernmental cooperation channels, including embassies and private-sector partnerships. In May 2025, South African businesswoman Lebogang Zulu, a representative of the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance, confirmed that she had signed an agreement to supply 5,600 workers to Alabuga and construction firm Etalonstroi Ural.

The report relies mainly on open-source data, including media, social networks, and public reports, as well as anonymized interviews conducted with individuals in Africa, Ukraine, and Russia. The report says recruits in the Alabuga Start program are young women with secondary education or limited higher education who seek paid training to secure a better future.

Fighters Used as “Cannon Fodder”

African fighters are exclusively men from modest urban backgrounds and are mostly civilians who become amateur mercenaries. Media outlets sometimes label them “Black Wagners.” The group includes students, civil servants, and low-ranking soldiers, not only unemployed workers.

Some soldiers and non-commissioned officers deserted their national armies to join Russia. The report estimates about 150 Cameroonian deserters, a phenomenon authorities have not officially acknowledged. One mercenary said, “It is better to go die in Russia while earning millions than to die for nothing in Cameroon.”

IFRI says Russian recruitment campaigns may qualify as human trafficking due to their abusive and deceptive nature. Promised benefits often fail to materialize, while contracts misrepresent the nature of the work. Many women do not know they will work in the defense sector, and many men do not know they will serve as “cannon fodder” on the front line.

Upon arrival in Russia, amateur mercenaries receive firearms training for 10 to 15 days before deployment into foreign battalions under Russian command. Russian forces assign them to infantry, logistics units, and frontline positions.

For some recruits, this migration experience proves irreversible.

The report estimates that combat has killed about 50 Burkinabe and 150 Cameroonians, representing roughly 30% of Cameroonians who joined Russian forces.

Although recruiters officially promise civilian vocational training in sectors such as catering, hospitality, and automotive services, women in the Alabuga Start program assemble drones. Many report long working hours, wages below advertised levels, and the absence of promised training.

Despite disappearances, family complaints, and growing media coverage, most African governments have taken limited action to prevent abusive recruitment. Some governments have begun to respond.

Kenya publicly acknowledged the presence of about 200 citizens in Russian forces. Authorities held talks with Russia in September about repatriation and arrested smugglers attempting to send recruits to Russia. South Africa also demanded the return of its nationals serving in the Russian army.

Authorities have launched investigations in several African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, and South Africa, into Alabuga Start recruitment, which officials may classify as human trafficking. The report says further government action could expose Russia’s recruitment strategy on the continent.

This article was initially published in French by Walid Kéfi 

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum