JOHANNESBURG, Feb 24 (Reuters) – Eleven of 17 men lured to Ukraine to fight for Russia will soon return home, the South African government said on Tuesday, after the original four men returned to the country last week.
Two other people remain in Russia, including one in a Moscow hospital, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement.
Ramaphosa raised the fate of the 17 men, who made a distress call to the South African government in November after being trapped in Ukraine’s Donbass region, in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin this month.
Reports of African men being lured into Russia with the promise of employment and ending up on the front lines in Ukraine have become increasingly frequent in recent months, causing tensions between Moscow and some of the countries involved.
An intelligence report submitted to lawmakers last week estimated that more than 1,000 Kenyans have been recruited to fight alongside Russia in the war in Ukraine. Kenya’s foreign minister said he planned to visit Russia to address the issue.
South Africa has sought to maintain a non-aligned stance on the conflict in Ukraine while maintaining strong ties with Moscow among BRICS members such as Brazil, India and China.
Under South African law, it is illegal for citizens to provide military assistance to foreign governments or join foreign armies unless authorized to do so.
Much of Donbas is controlled by Russian forces, and fighting there has been fierce since Russia invaded Ukraine four years ago.
(Reporting by Anathi Madubela and Sfundo Parakozov; Editing by Alexander Winning and Alex Richardson)
