cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/48730146

[Last week], more than a dozen South Africans repatriated from Russia, where they say they were lured under false pretences and thrust onto the front lines of the war in Ukraine – mirroring the experience of other African men from countries including Kenya and Zimbabwe.

In November last year, it came to light that several South Africans aged between 20 and 39 had been sent to Russia for what they believed would be security training. But soon after, they were conscripted into a paramilitary group and sent to fight in Ukraine.

At the centre of the controversy is Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla – a daughter of South Africa’s former president, Jacob Zuma – who resigned as a lawmaker in December after she was implicated in the recruitment drive and the police opened an investigation against her.

The recruits, many from the Zumas’ home region of Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province, returned after current President Cyril Ramaphosa reached out to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for support in the matter, the presidency said last week.

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“Our children were sold off,” said one parent. “They were promised jobs, but instead they were used.”

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At the start of their contracts in Russia, several of the men told Al Jazeera, they were paid a lump sum of 80,000 rand (about $4,800) – money they quickly sent home when they realised the conditions of their employment.

“I gave it to my mother immediately,” Khumalo [an African military recruit] said. “I thought I’d die there.”

In Russia, the recruits were issued military uniforms and weapons, and given barely a week of basic drills, they said.

“We were cannon fodder. Some of us didn’t even know how to fire properly before they pushed us forward,” Khumalo said.

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“African recruits were made to do the most dangerous duties on the front line,” Khumalo said. “Some were forced to go and pick up the dead and injured while drones hovered above them … Others were shouted at and racially abused by the Russians. It was sad to see Africans treated this way.”

Khumalo said it was a “heartbreaking” experience, only made worse for those who never made it back home.

“They treated Africans worse,” Mandla Zulu*, 44, agreed. “We were racially abused, beaten, and sent into the most dangerous areas … We saw comrades from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Kenya die in numbers.”

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More than 1,400 citizens from 36 African countries had been identified among the Russian ranks, Ukraine’s foreign minister said in November. Among those who have died on the front lines are casualties from Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and other nations, according to reports.

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“Some of our African brothers said they [joined the war] because they were promised to be smuggled to Western Europe if they fought,” said Zulu, one of the South African returnees. “That dream was the bait.”

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