African soldiers are deployed en masse by the Russian army - RFU News

[TexasTowelie]

Today, there are interesting updates from Ukraine.

Here, for the first time, the number of Russian losses is higher than that of the recruits, so the Russian army is desperately looking for new sources of expendable manpower. Now the Russian recruiters have turned their attention to Africa, ready to lure new conscripts to risk their lives in a foreign war.

Battlefield evidence from across Ukraine increasingly points to a sharp rise in African fighters appearing in Russian ranks, captured or killed not in isolated incidents but along multiple, widely separated fronts. This pattern suggests a deliberate and organized recruitment effort rather than random, one-off cases. The trend has become visible through a steady stream of combat footage and prisoner interrogations released by Ukrainian units operating hundreds of kilometers apart.

Near Vovchansk, Ukrainian territorial defense forces recently repelled a Russian assault and captured a group of enemy soldiers that included a mercenary from Africa. Around Kupiansk, Ukrainian FPV drone footage documented an African recruit fighting in Russian formations and being struck during an engagement. This was not an anomaly, as several clips from the same axis showed other African soldiers operating alongside Russian troops, confirming repeated use of foreign manpower in the area.

The same pattern has emerged around Liman, where Ukrainian drone operators reported a noticeable increase in African mercenaries fighting for Russia. In one recorded incident, a drone strike wounded an African fighter, who could be heard over the radio pleading in broken English for evacuation. The Russian command never responded, and no medical help arrived, showcasing the general attitude of the Russians toward those joining their army from afar. Additional footage from the Liman direction later showed two more African mercenaries eliminated by Ukrainian drone strikes, later inspections show they were with no real equipment but wearing budget Chinese tactical clothing, reinforcing the impression that these recruits were sent on a suicide mission.

Further south, in the Pokrovsk direction, Ukraine’s Skala Regiment published footage of two African soldiers captured while fighting for Russian forces. Their interrogation confirmed they had been recruited abroad and rapidly deployed to the front, without proper training. Another revealing case came from the Zaporizhia direction, where fighters of the Freedom of Russia Legion captured a Nigerian citizen who had been studying in Moscow. He testified that he had been forcibly recruited and served five months in the Russian army before being taken prisoner of war. The symbolism in the latest case is striking, with ethnic Russians seeking to overthrow the Kremlin fighting on Ukraine’s side, while the Russian state fills its ranks with coerced or deceived foreigners.

The fact that African fighters are appearing simultaneously near all parts of the frontline strongly indicates a coordinated recruitment pipeline rather than coincidence. This was reinforced by recent developments in South Africa, where authorities arrested five suspects in five days on charges related to recruiting men for Russian military service. Investigations revealed that South African and Botswanan recruits were lured under the pretense of security training for deployment guarding rear areas, only to be transported to Russia and forced into combat in Ukraine. Some never returned, and the arrests confirm that Russia’s recruitment effort extends far beyond its borders and is actively targeting vulnerable populations with promises of quick money or study and work permits.

Russia’s turn to foreign manpower reflects a deeper political and demographic exhaustion at home, which means the government cannot risk another mass mobilization without provoking domestic backlash. Years of low birth rates, emigration, and catastrophic wartime losses have hollowed out the pool of available recruits, while African fighters, often drawn from poor environments, are treated as expendable stopgaps. They receive minimal training, amateur equipment, and almost no integration into Russian command structures. Language barriers and isolation make them easy to misuse in high-risk assaults, and when wounded, they are frequently abandoned.

Overall, the Russian reliance on imported cannon fodder does not solve the manpower crisis but worsens it. High losses among foreign recruits force Moscow to expand recruitment even further abroad, deepening its dependence on deception and coercion. The growing presence of African fighters on Ukrainian battlefields is not a sign of strength or global reach, but of desperation. Clear evidence that Russia’s war machine is burning through human lives faster than its own society...