Mudavadi: State can’t tell number of Kenyans recruited into Russian war

The government is unable to establish the exact number of Kenyans recruited into Russia’s military operations, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has said.

Appearing before the Senate Labour Committee on Thursday, Mudavadi who is also the Foreign Affairs CS said many Kenyans travelled secretly and outside official channels, thus making it impossible to establish the exact numbers.

He said the figures available to the government remained fluid as authorities continued receiving fresh information from the war environment.

“We were talking about the ones we had confirmed, because it’s possible there could be more,” Mudavadi told the committee.

“These are people who went into this territory without notifying the embassy, without notifying their families. So new information is coming,” he added.

The PCS said the government had initially confirmed 252 Kenyans linked to recruitment into Russian special forces, but the figure later rose to 291 as more information emerged.

He clarified that the increase did not necessarily indicate fresh recruitment but reflected ongoing verification of cases.

“Remember, this is a war zone. These are data that are coming out, which always require clear verification from time to time,” he stated.

The government had documented “252 reported cases of Kenyans who enlisted in the Russian special forces.”

Of these, 47 had been repatriated, while families had reported 10 deaths that had not been independently verified.

Mudavadi said some recruits deliberately concealed their travel plans, making it difficult for Kenyan embassies and relatives to trace them once they left the country.

“Some may have been secretive,” he said.

The CS defended the government’s handling of the issue, insisting authorities were focused on confirming facts rather than competing with media reports on casualty or recruitment numbers.

“If the media does have something, I think it’s good for us to be able to note what they have brought out and also try and verify the facts,” he said.

The ministry told senators that the recruitment of Kenyans into the Russian military was part of a broader pattern of transnational trafficking and fraudulent overseas recruitment schemes targeting desperate young job seekers.

Former servicemen, Mudavadi noted, were among those specifically targeted for Russia-linked recruitment drives.

Mudavadi said Kenya had engaged Russian authorities over the issue and secured assurances that there would be “no more enlisting of Kenyans to the Special Military Forces of the Russian Federation.”

Kenya had also requested Russia to include captured Kenyans in prisoner exchange programmes to facilitate their return home.

“When we met with the Russian foreign minister, one of our key issues was that since these Kenyans were caught up on the front line, we also want the Russian Federation to include them when there is a prisoner exchange,” he said.

Diaspora Affairs Principal Secretary Roseline Njogu told senators that many victims were bypassing official migration channels and instead falling prey to traffickers and informal recruitment agents.

“There is a requirement for personal responsibility,” Njogu said.

“As much as governments can do everything to keep you in line and we have created protective infrastructure, we still see people bypassing the proper channels.”

She said the government had intensified public awareness campaigns in universities, technical colleges and counties to caution young Kenyans against unsafe migration routes and fraudulent recruiters.

Njogu disclosed that authorities currently had 87 active prosecutions against suspected traffickers and illegal recruitment agents.

“A lot of the bad actors we are seeing are not licensed agents. It is actually third parties, subagents and informal recruiters engaging in what we would call human trafficking,” the PS said.

She defended the role played by Kenyan embassies abroad, saying diplomats were increasingly conducting rescue operations under difficult conditions.

“Our ambassadors and their teams are doing a lot of good work to intervene under very difficult circumstances. Some of the institutions they deal with are not very cooperative, but they persist and try their best to help.”

The report presented to the Senate committee by the PCS painted a grim picture of expanding labour trafficking networks targeting Kenyans seeking jobs abroad.

According to the ministry, traffickers are increasingly exploiting high-risk destinations in Southeast Asia, the Gulf and conflict zones through sophisticated transnational recruitment syndicates.

Among the destinations flagged were Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, which the ministry described as hubs for cybercrime-linked labour exploitation.

In Cambodia alone, 393 Kenyans were reported trapped between January and April this year, with 304 already repatriated, while others remained confined in scam compounds awaiting evacuation.

Laos recorded 29 repatriated Kenyans, while Thailand was identified both as a destination for sexual exploitation and a transit route used to move victims into Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

The report further stated that 162 Kenyans had allegedly been smuggled into Qatar by unregistered agencies, while India emerged as another trafficking destination where Kenyans recruited for hospitality and beauty industry jobs allegedly ended up in forced labour conditions.

The ministry said 263 Kenyan victims had so far been repatriated from India.

Officials warned that traffickers were increasingly using digital platforms such as Telegram and Facebook to lure recruits with fake overseas job offers.

Victims often had their passports confiscated upon arrival and were forced into cybercrime operations involving cryptocurrency fraud, phishing scams, online gambling and romance scams.

The revelations emerged amid growing concern over the government’s ability to support distressed Kenyans abroad.

Mudavadi told senators that Kenyan embassies were overwhelmed by rising cases of labour exploitation and stranded migrant workers but lacked adequate funding for emergency interventions.

“The State Department for Diaspora Affairs is mandated to protect Kenyans abroad. However, the department is severely underfunded and is therefore unable to offer requisite support to diaspora in distress,” he said.

The CS said the funding shortage had weakened rescue operations, temporary shelter support, legal aid, and repatriation efforts for Kenyans trapped abroad under abusive labour arrangements.