Russia recruits mercenaries in African countries to have them engaged in the war against Ukraine. Despite lack of experience of combat operations in the climatic conditions of Europe, the Russian command benefits from financial problems of the African population to recruit mercenaries.
Besides intentions to make up for the heavy losses of Russian troops, the Kremlin wants to demonstrate absence of a single position of the international community as for condemning Russian invasion of Ukraine and numerous war crimes committed against Ukrainian civilians.
Hundreds of Ethiopians have reportedly lined up outside the Russian embassy in Addis Ababa, hoping to be recruited to fight for Moscow in its war against Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022. The embassy has dismissed claims it is recruiting foreign fighters and said the Ethiopians are there to show their solidarity with Russia.
Witnesses have said that the embassy in Ethiopia does not bring the hopefuls inside, but that staffers have come outside to collect their documents.
The Ethiopians applying to the Russian Embassy in Addis Ababa want to leave their country, reach Europe and search for a better future. Most of them saw recruitment announcements published by the Russian embassy in Internet.
In the same manner around 5,000 citizens of Eritrea are being recruited. There is information about the recruitment of citizens of the Congo, the Central African Republic and Cameroon. The mercenaries are partly recruited by Russian intelligence personnel working in the Russian embassies under cover, and, by private military companies’ branches (for example, in the Central African Republic and Cameroon).
The list of countries sending mercenaries to Russia is as the same as the country list voting against or abstained on the UN decision to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council because of its war crimes committed in Ukraine.
Such a picture clearly shows potential mercenaries-donors of Russia among African countries where the leadership is corrupted by Moscow.
Thus, the mercenaries grab Moscow-offered contracts as an opportunity to emigrate from the country. However, such a scenario is far from the Russians’ practice to use these mercenaries.
Unlike Russian mercenaries, African mercenaries are cheaper for Moscow. Firstly, the cost of their service is lower than the salary of Russian military personnel. By promising Ethiopians $2,000-$5,000 per contract on social media, in fact, the Russians offer African and Middle Eastern foreigners only $300 per month, while Russian mercenaries are promised up to $1,000. Secondly, African mercenaries cannot count on insurance and extra payments in case of injury or death. Moscow’s guarantees to employ Africans in Russia are also fake, since de facto the service does not provide for leaving war zone.
Thirdly, Middle Eastern and African mercenaries are sent to the most dangerous places in order to detect Ukrainian defense forces’ firing positions. As a result, mercenary units are completely eliminated and no payments are required. For example, Russia threw Libyan units (from the eastern provinces) and Syrian mercenaries into battles in eastern Ukraine. All the units were eliminated. In this case the Russians pocketed payments of foreign fighters whose bodies had not even been evacuated.
The Kremlin understands illegal nature of mercenary activity that is why it is not afraid of any claims either from relatives or home country of the foreign fighters.
However, leaders of African and Middle Eastern states are more than aware of their citizens’ recruitment in the interests of the Russian war in Ukraine.
In exchange for their support, Russia offers regimes of the mentioned countries weapons and veto power in the UN, for example, in the investigation of war crimes in Tigray, Ethiopia.
There is a possibility that the governments of the countries sending mercenaries are also interested in such contracts because they can get financial benefits from the Kremlin for each person. Since the scenario for using African mercenaries does not imply their return home, financial reward is transferred to recruiters from among government officials and state administration of these countries. Therefore, the governments become key beneficiaries of the funds given to recruit mercenaries and keep motivated to continue cooperation with the Kremlin.
