By Nebianet Usaini
Ghana’s foreign minister said Friday that 55 Ghanaians had been killed while fighting in Ukraine, among hundreds of Africans said to have been lured to fight there for Russia.
“We were informed that 272 Ghanaians are believed to have been lured into battle since 2022 for which an estimated 55 have been killed and 2 captured as prisoners of war,” minister Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa said on X.
He called the news “depressing and frightening”, speaking after meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart in Kyiv.
“We cannot turn a blind eye to these heartbreaking statistics. These are not just numbers, they represent human lives, the hope of many Ghanaian families and our nation,” Ablakwa wrote.
Ukraine said on Wednesday that more than 1,780 citizens from 36 African countries had been identified among Russia’s ranks.
Ablakwa said the government was “committed to tracking and dismantling all dark web illegal recruitment schemes operating within our jurisdiction.”
AFP reporters in Ukraine in late 2025 met prisoners of war from Kenya, Togo, Cameroon and Nigeria.
AFP recently spoke with four Kenyans — three wounded — who made it home. They had been promised lucrative civilian jobs in Russia but were forced to sign contracts with the army and sent to the frontlines in Ukraine with limited training.
A key figure in a network that sent more than 1,000 Kenyans to fight for the Russian army was charged on Thursday with human trafficking, the state prosecutor said.
In South Africa 15 men who were reportedly tricked into joining mercenary forces were repatriated this week. Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said several remain in Russia and at least two have died fighting in Ukraine.
