A crisis amplified across the border
Mbongeni Mguni - Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday May 4, 2026 10:34
Information Minister Zhemu Soda told the media last month that at least 15 had died on the frontlines, after having been recruited to fight for Russia. The minister was quoted as saying the Zimbabweans had been lured by “shadowy agencies promising lucrative jobs abroad using social media platforms as their primary hunting ground'.
'It is a sophisticated scheme of deception, exploitation, and human trafficking that has already resulted in the loss of Zimbabwean lives,' he was quoted as saying.
Zenzele Ndebele, an investigative journalist in Zimbabwe, has been tracking, researching, and extensively reporting on the recruitment of citizens from that country to the frontlines of Eastern Europe.
He told Mmegi that the number of Zimbabweans recruited to Russia was likely in the hundreds, while the deaths were higher than being reported by officials.
“It’s very difficult to know the number of Zimbabweans in Russia because there’s no formal way of recruiting or a central point where they register,” he told Mmegi. “Some recruits are from rural Zimbabwe, others from Bulawayo, Harare, or even Johannesburg in South Africa. “However, in the last few months that we have been doing research, I would say there are around 300 to 500 Zimbabweans who have gone to Russia, and of these, some were using SA documents.”
Ndebele estimated that over 30 or more citizens of Zimbabwe have died in Russia on the frontline.
“Officially, the government said 18 people, but I think there are more. “Others were using SA documents and were not recorded as Zimbabweans, and others were just not in the system,” he said.
According to Ndebele’s research, there are various recruitment methods. Many potential recruits are reached through Facebook, WhatsApp, and peer-to-peer methods.
“People get recruited by seeing that a friend has gone to Russia and they ask ‘how did you get there’ and they get the number. “There have been a lot of messages on WhatsApp and Facebook with links asking Zimbabweans to join, and some of them are joining. “Others join from SA and some from other countries, as we have heard that there are Zimbabweans who have joined from Dubai.”
Like in Botswana, the Zimbabwe government is in communication with the Russian Federation to find ways of bringing back home citizens who are in the frontline.
Ndebele said it was unclear whether all Zimbabwean citizens would be brought back to the country, but the efforts were known to be ongoing.
An American NGO, Foreign Policy Research Institute, earlier this month estimated that 1,800 Africans had been recruited to fight for Russia. These recruits are mainly from Ghana and Kenya, with reports that families had been unable to secure the whereabouts or remains of their loved ones.
Ukraine Ambassador to Botswana, Dr Oleksiy Syvak, told Mmegi that prisoners of war captured by Ukraine in the conflict had confirmed the large presence of Africans in the frontline.
“Russia promises to have the short courses as bodyguards, or military training, or some professional training, or even work,” he told Mmegi. “In some cases, I even know about the children of priests from Africa who were invited to Russia to continue their religious education and then taken by force to the Russian Armed Forces. “These people all signed the contract with the Ministry of Defense of Russia, but in many cases, these contracts are not translated into the language they understand. “In many cases, they have no other option than to sign this contract, but this is the common practice of what happens to these people.”
He said some recruits were lured to the frontline on the basis of promises.
“Promises of good salaries, promises of very high income and social packages, all of this stuff, and especially in countries where people have a high unemployment rate, we see the cases of this. “I should say that this policy of Russia goes beyond any particular country,” he said.
The Russian Embassy in Botswana said that all requests regarding citizens from the Botswana side, whether from official authorities or from relatives of Batswana involved in the war, were promptly forwarded to the relevant Russian authorities.
Upon receiving a response, the Embassy immediately informs the Government of Botswana.
“It should be underlined that Botswana nationals, just like citizens from other countries who have signed contracts to participate in the special military operation alongside us in fighting Ukrainian Nazism, did so voluntarily, of their own accord and of their own free will, in full compliance with Russian legislation, which provides inter alia for early termination of contracts. “There are specific procedures governing this,” the Embassy said in response to Mmegi questions.