‘It was war’: Men recruited to fight for Russia describe treatment on the frontlines – report

An armoured military car equipped with an electronic warfare complex and an anti-drone mesh drives along the road protected from Russian FPV drones with an anti-drone net in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on January 23, 2026. Picture: AFP Some of the men recruited to fight for Russia in eastern Ukraine have revealed the harsh treatment they were subjected to. The men returned home this week after the South African government negotiated their release with Russian officials.

The European Union recently held an online seminar detailing the tactics used by Russia in recruiting impoverished men from around the world. The returnees included 15 uMhkonto weSiswe Party members, some allegedly being part of a group that were trained to defend Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead during the July 2021 unrest. Speaking to theSunday Times, the men relayed how they were unemployed when recruiters offered VIP bodyguard training oversees.

Upon arrival, they were given weapons and sent to an area facing aerial attacks from Ukrainian drones. The men stated that they feared for their lives and were angry at having been tricked into combat. “When they told us we would be protecting leaders, I felt proud.

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But what we faced in Russia was not protection work. It was war,” one man said. Another said the South African men were separated from other Africans as they were considered “cheeky” and were treated with disdain by the Russian soldiers.

“We were treated like cannon fodder. We were racially abused, denied proper equipment and sent to the most dangerous areas,” the man told theSunday Times. The European External Action Service gave a presentation earlier in February on the tactics used by the Russian military to supplement its numbers on the frontlines.

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