Overview
- Botswana’s foreign ministry reported that two male citizens, aged 19 and 20, were allegedly deceived by recruiters posing a short-term military training programme in Russia.
- The government said diplomatic and law-enforcement channels are active to confirm the reports, locate the pair, assess their condition, and facilitate repatriation, with their status still unverified.
- Ukraine’s foreign ministry backed Botswana’s response and alleged a systematic recruitment drive targeting Africans through misleading offers of training, employment, or short-term opportunities.
- Kyiv said the process involves formal contracts and direct dealings with Russia’s Defence Ministry or General Staff, characterizing it as state-run rather than the work of rogue intermediaries.
- Ukraine urged African governments and media to disrupt such schemes, citing at least 1,436 fighters from 36 African countries and warning that a surge in Russian scholarships may serve recruitment aims.