NAIROBI, Feb 26 (Reuters) – A Kenyan court charged on Thursday a man with trying to hire and traffic 25 people to fight for Russia in its war with Ukraine, the prosecutor’s office and a court filing said.
The court charged Festus Arasa Omwamba, director of a recruiting company, of trafficking the victims to “Russia for the purpose of exploitation by means of deception”, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said.
It said in a statement that 22 out of the 25 people were rescued from an apartment complex in Athi River, a town in Machakos County near the capital last September before they travelled to Russia.
Three others who had already gone to Russia allegedly found themselves at the frontline of the Russia-Ukraine war, and they later came back with injuries, the prosecutor’s office said, adding that Omwamba had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
More than 1,700 Africans are fighting for Russia in its Ukraine war, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Wednesday, adding that Moscow was using deception to trick them into fighting.
Kenya’s National Intelligence Service said in a report last week that recruitment agencies colluded with rogue Kenyan airport staff, immigration and other state officials, and with staff at the Russian Embassy in Nairobi and at the Kenyan Embassy in Moscow, to facilitate the recruits’ travel to fight, putting the number of Kenyans there at more than 1,000.
Russia’s embassy in Nairobi denied that Moscow was involved in illegally recruiting Kenyans to fight in Ukraine, though it said foreign citizens could voluntarily join its armed forces.
The court ordered Omwamba to stay in police custody pending a bail hearing, the prosecutor’s office said.
Kenya’s foreign ministry has said 27 Kenyans had been rescued after being stranded in Russia. Kenya’s Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi has said he plans to visit Russia in March for talks on the issue.
(Reporting by Emma Ogao and Humphrey Malalo, Writing by George Obulutsa, Editing by William Maclean)
