This comprehensive study documents the trafficking of over 1,000 Kenyan citizens-equivalent to battalion-plus military strength-into the Russia-Ukraine war between 2024 and 2026. Drawing on a parliamentary report by Kenya's National Intelligence Service, investigative journalism, victim testimonies, and family interviews, the study traces the full pipeline of deception: recruitment through fraudulent job agencies, travel networks exploiting official collusion, the horrors of the battlefield where Africans are used as expendable "test subjects," and the diplomatic aftermath. The study argues that this represents not voluntary enlistment but organized crime enabled by systemic corruption across multiple Kenyan government agencies and facilitated by Russian actors. By centring the voices of victims and their families, the study serves as both a definitive reference document and a policy framework. It concludes with detailed recommendations for the Kenyan government, regional cooperation, and international advocacy. The study includes a comprehensive methodology section and a separate appendix of policy recommendations grounded in the African studies tradition of engaged, policy-relevant scholarship.
Kipkemoi Araap Korir Barmoiben (Sat,) studied this question.