**Families Plead for Two Kenyans Stuck in War**

The war in Ukraine is taking its toll on families thousands of kilometers outside the battle fields, far afield in Africa. This is perpetrated by a complicated network of war profiteers, wanting to exploit the war between Russia and Ukraine financially. This network has its roots in Moscow, and its attractive shoots in Nairobi, Kenya, where Kenyans and of course, other Africans are recruited in broad-day light into the Russian Army, but under another guise.

The recruiting agency in Nairobi, as reported by Journalists for Justice investigation, February 2026, starts with a promise of good job, and hence, good life abroad, as Security Guards in Russia; construction, driving and logistics jobs; athletics and sports contract for athletes; and private security jobs for ex-service men. These unsuspecting job seekers are quickly issued Tourist Visas, not working visas, and their journey starts, transiting through Turkeyè and UAE, without being detected. Once in Russia, their passports and phones are confiscated, after which a military contract, written in Russian is given to them and forced to sign. They are then promptly deployed to the frontline after just 3 weeks of training, also in Russian.

According to the Kenyan government official figure in October 2026, 354 Kenyans were trafficked in this manner into the conflict, out of which 77 are in the frontline; 38 in different camps; 84 killed or missing; 62 rescued or repatriated; and 5 captured by the Ukrainian forces as Prisoners of War, PoW.

But the most heart-rending piece of the story is that of two families; from Mt. Elgon, who renewed their appeal to President Williams Ruto on the 12th of November, 2026, to help secure the release of their sons, who were trafficked under the category of athletic and sports contract, and now amongst the 5 captured fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
- Evans Kibet, 36, was a competitive athlete and a long distance runner from Mt. Elgon, was lured with a promise of athletic and sports opportunity in Russia, an opportunity to run, train and earn money, while pursuing his life's dreams. Instead, he found himself in Russia signing military papers he could not understand and got deployed to the Ukrainian battle fields. And in May 2025, Kibet was captured fighting for Russia, and had since remained a prisoner of war.
- Haron Pachenge, 34, and from Mt. Elgon as well, was also imprisoned in March 2026, after being captured by the Ukrainian forces. According to his family, Pachenge was also lured to Russia using the same athletic and sports contract scam.

The families of these young men, for the second time, have called on the President to do everything in his power to secure the release of their children, but President Ruto had already commenced diplomatic talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin immediately after the first appeal, and had met Putin on the 29th of October, 2026, and got him to redesignate Kenya a 'non-source country', where Russia can not recruit soldiers. He had also contacted Zelensky, the Ukrainian President directly, getting him to reclassify the Kenyan PoW as victims of human trafficking, and not soldiers.

The latest appeal from Mt. Elgon wants Nairobi to increase diplomatic pressure on Moscow and Kiev, for immediate commencement of repatriation of all victims from both Russia and Ukraine, as the Kenyan Foreign Minister heads for Moscow, then Kiev. Meanwhile, pressure is also being mounted on the Parliament at home to the full list of names of Kenyans fighting in Russia, and to force the National Employment Authority, NEA, to look into the activities of the recruiting agency operating from the Kenya International Conference Cente, KICC.