Zimbabwe Arrests Man for Recruiting Locals to Fight for Russia in Ukraine

Zimbabwe’s counter-terrorism police have arrested a 36-year-old man on charges of recruiting five individuals to serve in the Russian military. According to court documents, the suspect was detained while escorting one of the recruits to a bus terminal in Harare. Investigations have revealed that Russia has been luring men from African nations with promises of high-paying jobs, only to force them to fight on the front lines in Ukraine. Police stated that the suspect was found in possession of Russian e-visas and hotel booking confirmations for the recruits, who were allegedly destined to be compelled into armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine. A Russian national identified only as ‘Roman’, believed to be an accomplice, remains at large. In mid-February, the investigative collective All Eyes on Wagner published a list of over 1,400 Africans it claims were recruited by Moscow between January 2023 and September 2025 to fight in Ukraine, adding that more than 300 of them have been killed. Ukraine has also reported identifying over 1,780 citizens from 36 African countries fighting in Russian ranks. In March, Zimbabwe confirmed that 15 of its citizens had died on ‘foreign battlefields’, without specifying where or for which side they were fighting.