Tempted by lucrative job opportunities but sent to the front line

After David Kuloba accepted a security guard job with a recruitment agency in Kenya, his mother warned him not to go to Russia.

The family living in a crowded informal settlement in Kenya’s capital Kibera was initially excited when he said he had found work abroad – it sounded like a rare break.

The 22-year-old had been working odd jobs in Nairobi, from selling peanuts to building construction, and had been hoping to find work in the Gulf.

But when his mother asked him which country he was going to, his answer shocked her.

“He showed me his phone and said: ‘Look, this is Russia,'” Susan Kuloba told the BBC’s Newsday programme.

“I told him: ‘Don’t you see what’s on TV about Russia? That’s never a good thing,'” she recalled.

But her son insisted the offer was genuine and told her he was promised more than $7,000 (£5,250) on arrival – money that was life-changing for a young man without a steady income.

Despite her protests, he traveled to Russia in August without telling her the exact date of departure.

She was shocked when he later contacted her, saying he had arrived and sending a photo of himself in full combat fatigues.

“He told me: ‘Mom, the job we were told to do has changed, but even this is not bad,'” she said.

Her son explained that he and some other Kenyan men had been undergoing two weeks of combat training and that he was heading to a war zone in Ukraine that Russia would invade in 2022.

Within days, he told her that he and others were ambushed in an area controlled by Russian forces. She begged him to come home.

“I said: ‘David, please get out of that place.’ He told me: ‘How can I get out? I signed a contract. Give me at least a year.

“Then I received the news that I was worried about,” Ms Kuloba said.

That was October 4th. David sent her a voice message saying he was about to go to war and in the event he died he wanted her to provide him with the details of his Russian military ID and contract written in Russian.

He urged her to take the documents to the Russian embassy if anything happened to him.

That was the last she heard from him.

Soon after, confused and frightened, she sought help from her son’s friend, who told her that he had heard David was dead.

“I asked his friend: ‘How do you know?’ He said: ‘Let me give you the phone number of the agent who receives us in Russia.'”

Mrs. Kuloba sent a message to this number – and initially the response was in Russian. When she identified herself, she was told in English that David was missing and probably dead.

“I’m sorry to tell you about your son,” the agent said.

She asked for a photo of David’s body or confirmation that David was in the morgue. No one came.

The contact told her he was “far away” and suggested she travel to Russia herself or send another relative, but she said her family could not afford to do that.

Later, the contact again told her she was “entitled to compensation for her son’s death,” but provided no documentation.

Mrs Kuloba said she had been unable to obtain official confirmation about David from the Russian authorities. When she visited the Russian embassy in Nairobi, officials there told her they had no “connections with the military.”

She didn’t know what to do next and was devastated: “How do we start? Because we don’t know anything. He is my eldest son. I depend on him.”

The father of another Kenyan man who went to work in Russia told the BBC he was recruited on the condition that he would become a driver and had nothing to do with armed fighting.

The young man ended up injured in Ukraine and upon returning home two weeks ago he was so traumatized that he was unable to speak. To protect his health, the BBC has agreed not to reveal his identity.

His father only learned that his son had gone to Russia after receiving the news that his son was injured.

“He hinted that people were leaving and I dissuaded him,” the father told the BBC. “I’ve been watching the war since the beginning. I feel uncomfortable.”

Agents promise about $1,500 a month, which is “good money” for qualified drivers in Kenya, he said.

His son later told him that, like David Cooloba, he received only two weeks of training before being sent to war.

“He said he was injured in the bush and for five days he couldn’t find treatment. He was on painkillers,” the father said.

He was eventually taken to the border, where he received first aid and was later transferred to St. Petersburg.

The father said he described seeing “the bodies of other fighters strewn about” and explained that many like him signed one-year contracts without fully understanding the terms.

last month, Kenya’s foreign minister says about 200 Kenyans are known to be fighting for Russia and acknowledged that recruitment networks remain active.

Previously, it was reported in September that Young Kenyan athlete arrested in Ukrainesaid he was tricked into joining the Russian army.

The government now says several recruitment agencies are under investigation and some licenses have been revoked.

Sylvanus Osoro, chief whip of Kenya’s parliamentary majority, told the BBC that “some institutions are luring young people with the promise of large payments. The government is tracking those institutions linked to this fraud.”

He explained that out of about 130 recruitment agencies registered in Kenya, about five have been flagged, three of which have been suspended and two others are under investigation.

Osoro said the parliamentary defense and foreign relations committee was taking up the matter and the agencies it convened were expected to outline how they recruit young people, what information they provide and how they submit contracts.

But families with relatives who unexpectedly fought for Russian troops criticized the government’s slow response and said they felt helpless.

Asked what steps were being taken to repatriate those lured into combat positions, Osoro said the process must follow diplomatic channels.

“The contract was signed voluntarily, even if they didn’t know it,” he said. “This can only be resolved through diplomacy. These contacts are taking place.”

He said all known cases had been “mapped” and officials were verifying the signing of contracts. But he declined to confirm how many Kenyans may have died.

“I wouldn’t give that report. That doesn’t sit well with me,” he said. “What I can say is that work is underway.”

Osoro said new legislation was being drafted to tighten controls over recruitment agencies, including stricter scrutiny before issuing licenses and clearer distinctions between job categories.

This problem is not limited to Kenya. Authorities in some African countries have reported cases where young people were offered lucrative job opportunities in Russia, which later led to their conscription into the army.

Many families are reluctant to speak publicly, fearing uncertainty about stigma or legal repercussions for relatives overseas.

In South Africa, it has become a major scandal after the daughter of former president Jacob Zuma was allegedly involved in the recruitment process. She denies any wrongdoing.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly warned that anyone fighting for Russia will be considered an enemy combatant and the only safe way out is to surrender and be considered a prisoner of war.

Mrs Kuloba still has not received official confirmation about her son’s fate. If he dies, she hopes his body will be repatriated.

“I just feel heartbroken,” she said. “He wanted to help us. He thought he was going to get a better job.”

Additional reporting by BBC Newsday’s Maureen Nyukuri in Nairobi