Ukrainian forces captured a Kenyan national fighting for Russia near Vovchansk, the 57th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade reported on Wednesday. 

The man, who identified himself as Evans, said he was a track and field athlete from Kenya. He, along with three other Kenyans, had traveled to St. Petersburg after being recruited by a sports agent. At the end of their visit, their handler offered them jobs that would allow them to remain in Russia.

According to a video released by the brigade, Evans said the agent gave him documents in Russian to sign, which he later discovered were military enlistment papers.
“He asked if I wanted to stay here, and I said ‘yes.’ But the problem was that my visa had expired. He said he could help and told me he had a job for me. I asked what kind of job, but he didn’t tell me. That evening, he came with some papers written in Russian and showed me where to sign. I didn’t know it was a military service contract,” he recalled.

Evans said his passport and phone were confiscated before he was taken to a military camp. When he realized he had been recruited into the Russian army, he tried to refuse but was told he had no choice.

Evans described his training as disorganized, noting severe language barriers within a unit that included Russians, Belarusians, Tajiks, and other Africans. After only a week of basic instruction focused solely on rifle handling, he was deployed to the front lines.

Once at the combat zone, Evans said he escaped, walked for two days, and surrendered to Ukrainian troops.

Evans’ case follows similar reports of African nationals being misled into service. Earlier this year, Ukrainian troops captured two Cameroonians: Metougouena Ouna-na Jean Pafe and Anatole Frank, who said they were deceived with false job offers or medical treatment promises.

Ukrainian officials said Russia has increasingly turned to deceptive recruitment of foreign nationals to offset battlefield losses. In August, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that Russian units in Kharkiv Oblast included fighters from China, Central Asia, and several African countries.