Russia has agreed to work with Ghana to halt illegal recruitment of Ghanaian citizens into its armed forces.
Russia has agreed to work with Ghana to halt illegal recruitment of Ghanaian citizens into its armed forces, according to Bloomberg.
Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa raised the issue during recent talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.
He said 62 Ghanaians had been killed while serving with Russian forces in Ukraine and another 15 remained missing.
The death toll has increased from 55 in February, when Ghana first publicly disclosed the scale of the recruitment.
At the time, Ablakwa said 272 Ghanaians were believed to have joined Russian forces since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.
Ghanaian authorities said private agents approached citizens with offers of civilian work abroad before placing them under Russian military contracts and sending them to the front, with many of the recruits having no military background or combat training.
Annual salaries of between $30,000 and $40,000 were used to attract potential recruits, Bloomberg reported.
Recruitment Networks
The recruitment of African nationals into Russian forces has expanded during the war.
Earlier this year, an investigation by the nonprofit research organization INPACT identified 1,417 African recruits, including 361 Egyptians, 335 Cameroonians, and 234 Ghanaians.
INPACT documented recruitment networks involving travel agencies, online intermediaries, and existing recruits encouraged to bring in others.
They target Africans with offers of discounted travel, civilian employment, education, residency, or Russian citizenship.
Much of the recruitment reportedly takes place online, particularly through social media.
Some candidates reportedly enlist knowingly, while others discover only after arriving in Russia that they are expected to perform military service.
“These recruits have been integrated into assault waves designed to overwhelm Ukrainian defensive lines, contributing to a strategy of attrition,” stated the investigation.
“From the recruits’ perspective, recruitment is driven by a desire for social and geographic mobility, within a context marked by structural poverty, political instability, and recurring crises on the African continent.”
