Ramaphosa welcomes return of SA men from Russia war

President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed progress in the return of South African men who were lured into fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, following engagement with his Russian counterpart. Pretoria in November said it had received “distress calls” from 17 men who were trapped in the epicentre of the fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region after being tricked into joining mercenary forces. Four of the men landed back home last week, and 11 were expected to return soon, according to the presidency, while two remained in Russia.

“President Ramaphosa has expressed his heartfelt gratitude to President Vladimir Putin, who responded positively to his call to support the process of returning the men home,” the presidency said in a statement. “The investigation into the circumstances that led to the recruitment of these young men into mercenary activities is ongoing,” it said. South African law prohibits its citizens from fighting for a foreign country’s army without government authorisation.

The war sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has drawn in mercenaries on both sides, including from several African countries. Ukraine’s foreign minister said in November that more than 1 400 citizens from 36 African countries had been identified among the Russian ranks. An AFP investigation spoke to four Kenyans recently returned from Russia who said they were deceived by a Nairobi recruitment agency under false promises of well-paid jobs. A daughter of South Africa’s ex-president Jacob Zuma resigned from parliament after claims she was involved in recruiting men to join Russian mercenaries.