Researchers link South African political party to alleged recruitment for Russian war
Two European researchers have linked South Africa’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party to alleged efforts to recruit Africans for Russia’s war in Ukraine, claiming some migrants were lured with job offers and then pushed into military service.
The allegations were presented on Friday at an event hosted by the European External Action Service, featuring French Institute of International Relations senior researcher Thierry Vircoulon, Inpact co-founder Vincent Gaudio, and Ukraine’s foreign ministry Director-General for African Affairs Liubov Abravitova.
Vircoulon, who said his findings were based on testimonies from recruits and their families, described what he called a mix of public recruitment and a “discreet” form of coercion involving quick visa approvals arranged through groups posing as work-and-travel agencies.
“Once in the hands of the Russian army, they are sent for basic military training, then deployed to do the most dangerous work on the frontlines,” Vircoulon is quoted by the Citizen.
Gaudio alleged that some recruits were offered unskilled work and that “it has become a business” for recruiters in high-volume countries. He also accused Russian recruiters of manipulating visa extensions, claiming migrants were misled into signing documents before being handed military gear.
Inpact’s research, the speakers said, identified 1,417 African men allegedly recruited by Russia between 2023 and 2025, based on a list of African prisoners of war captured by Ukrainian forces. The recruits were reportedly aged 18 to 57, with an average age of 31. Inpact listed 32 South Africans, while Egypt and Cameroon had the largest numbers cited.
Vircoulon said the MK Party was among the South African actors mentioned in connection with recruitment, linking it to Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla. The party was contacted for comment, but did not respond by publication time, according to the organisers’ account.
Vircoulon argued the alleged tactics reflected rising costs and recruitment pressures for Russia. “Russian soldiers are more and more costly, and luring foreigners is a form of cheaper labour. It is about exploiting the migrants,” he said.
In November 2025, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, resigned from Parliament after allegations that she helped lure 17 men to fight as mercenaries in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Her resignation followed a police announcement that she was under investigation over claims she had enticed South Africans to travel to Russia. The allegations emerged after a group of men aged 20 to 39 reportedly ended up on the front lines of the war in Ukraine.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
