Russia is recruiting in 36 African countries. Sybiha: This is a fraudulent scheme to snort to death

More than 1,700 citizens of various African countries are fighting in the Russian army against Ukraine; they are being drawn into the war in a fraudulent way, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said on Wednesday.

– We clearly see that the Russian Federation is trying to involve the inhabitants of Africa in the war – to death. According to our data, over 1,780 citizens of African countries are currently fighting in the Russian army. So we are talking about mercenaries, Sybiha said at a press conference with Ghana's Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in Kiev.

The head of Ukrainian diplomacy emphasized that mercenaries from Africa were dying on the front, and many were taken prisoner. He revealed that there are people serving in the Russian army who… they come from 36 African countries.

Sybiha considered this a “serious challenge”. – The Russian Federation is fraudulently dragging these citizens into war. It is very important to counteract this – both in individual capitals and in cooperation with Ukraine. We should reveal these schemes and not allow our citizens to be drawn into someone else's war, the minister emphasized.

Ukraine appeals to African countries: Do not allow your citizens to be drawn into someone else's war

A government representative in Kiev revealed that he had discussed this issue with his African counterparts and their “reaction was clear.”

Decisions were made to tighten responsibility for mercenaries in the Russian army. And we have agreed on joint information campaigns with some countries – how to prevent these fraudulent activities of the Russian Federation, said the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

From factories and offices straight to the trenches

Accurate statistics on the number of foreign soldiers in the Russian army do not exist. According to estimates by Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) from December last year, So far, over 18,000 people have taken part in the war against Ukraine. foreign mercenaries. However, the slidstvo.info website emphasizes that these are only identified people, so there may be many more mercenaries.

Mercenaries in the Russian army come from 48 countries. The first places are taken by the countries of South and East Asia and Africa. Foreigners were also identified among those fighting on Russia's side at least several dozen citizens of European Union countriesj, coming from, among others, from Latvia, Bulgaria, Italy, France and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Ukrinform agency reported that Serbia is the leader among European countries in terms of the number of foreign mercenaries in the Russian army.

From Kiev Jarosław Junko (PAP)

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