这篇报道聚焦俄乌战争中非洲人的参与规模与伤亡风险：乌克兰称目前有来自36个国家的1,780名非洲人在俄军中服役，而肯尼亚情报机构估计仅肯尼亚就有超过1,000人卷入战争，其中89人仍在前线。个案中，28岁的肯尼亚人Vincent Odhiambo称，他所在部队在2024年7月抵达乌克兰东部前线前拍下的一段视频里，除俄语指挥官外其余跳舞者都是非洲人，且随后几乎全部阵亡。
招募模式显示出明显的欺骗与剥削特征：Odhiambo称自己原被承诺的是俄罗斯文职工作、免费机票和签证，以及超过10,000美元的签约奖金，但抵达圣彼得堡后却被迫在签署俄军合同与支付240万卢布（31,000美元）离境之间二选一。加纳也出现类似案例，有招募者先收取高额前期费用，后又从月薪中扣除130,000卢布；受害者称他们在看不懂俄文合同的情况下被迫签下一年期军约，仅接受一周训练便被送上前线，而2月26日一名涉案肯尼亚机构创始人已被控贩运人口。
统计趋势表明，俄方因兵源紧张正加大对非洲的招募，但外国战士生存率极低，且政治代价正在上升：一项估计显示，多达42%的外国战士在加入俄军四个月内死亡，加纳外长称至少55名加纳人已丧生。与此同时，肯尼亚已关闭数百家无证招募机构，俄罗斯则据称把包括非洲国家在内的36个“友好”国家列入限制招募名单；这反映出在Afrobarometer最新调查中，俄罗斯在非洲的好感度已落后于美国和中国，非洲伤亡可能正削弱其支持基础。
The report centers on the scale and mortality risk of African involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war: Ukraine says 1,780 Africans from 36 countries are currently serving in the Russian army, while Kenya’s intelligence agency estimates that more than 1,000 Kenyans alone have been drawn into the war, with 89 still on the front line. In one case, 28-year-old Kenyan Vincent Odhiambo says a video he shot before his unit reached the eastern Ukrainian front in July 2024 showed soldiers dancing, and that apart from a Russian-speaking commander, all of them were African and nearly all were later killed.
The recruitment pattern shows clear deception and extraction: Odhiambo says he was promised a civilian job in Russia, free flights and visa, and a sign-on bonus worth more than $10,000, but on arrival in St Petersburg he was forced to choose between signing a Russian army contract or paying 2.4 million roubles ($31,000) to leave. Ghana has reported a similar scheme in which a recruiter allegedly charged large upfront fees and then deducted 130,000 roubles from monthly pay; victims say they signed one-year military contracts in Russian they could not understand and received only one week of training before deployment, while a Kenyan agency founder was charged with human trafficking on February 26.
The statistical trend suggests Russia is expanding African recruitment because it needs manpower, but foreign fighters face extremely poor survival odds and rising political costs: one estimate says as many as 42% of foreign fighters are killed within four months of joining the Russian army, and Ghana’s foreign minister says at least 55 Ghanaians have died. At the same time, Kenya has shut down hundreds of unlicensed recruitment agencies, and Russia has reportedly listed 36 “friendly” countries, including African states, where recruiters are barred from seeking fighters; that shift matters because the latest Afrobarometer survey shows Russia’s favorability in Africa now trails both America and China, implying that African deaths may be eroding support.
Source: Thousands of Africans are fighting for Russia in Ukraine
Subtitle: African governments are belatedly trying to stop them
Dateline: 3月 05, 2026 07:21 上午 | Accra and Nairobi