DISINFO: Ukraine recruited 17 mercenaries from South Africa through deception
SUMMARY
South African mercenaries recruited by Ukraine are asking for help. South African authorities are taking urgent measures to repatriate seventeen of their citizens who ended up in Ukraine as foreign mercenaries. The statement emphasises that these individuals were lured into the Ukrainian Armed Forces by false information about lucrative contracts.
RESPONSE
A widespread pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about mercenaries in the Ukrainian army, designed to undermine international support for Ukraine.
The claim resurfaced in early November 2025, as the South African government attempted to repatriate 17 South African citizens fighting for Russia from the front lines in Ukraine. The men, aged between 20 and 39, were reportedly trapped in Ukraine's war-torn Donbas region. Later that month, it was revealed that the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, who is also a member of South Africa’s parliament, has been involved in recruiting men from South Africa and Botswana for service with Russian forces in its war against Ukraine. It was reported that a group of young men travelled to Russia after being told they would train as bodyguards, but were sent to the frontlines in Ukraine and lost contact with their families.
On December 16, 2025, Vincent Magwenya, a spokesman for the current South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, confirmed that South African citizens were drawn into Russia's war against Ukraine on the side of the Russian army under the pretext of lucrative labour contracts.
“The process to retrieve those young men remains a very sensitive process...In fact, the emphasis is more with the authorities in Russia and less so with the authorities in the Ukraine, because the information that we have is that they were bungled into the Russian military forces,” Vincent Magwenya said.
Earlier, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that at least 1,436 citizens from 36 African countries are fighting against Ukraine on Russia's side. "The number represents those identified, though the actual number could be higher." the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised.
Back in the summer of 2025, The Telegraph reported in an investigation that migrants from African countries seeking work in Russia, for example in shampoo manufacturing, were falling victim to Russian deception and ending up on the front lines in Ukraine. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Africans are being lured into the war through promises of "high wages." African women are also being deceived into working in Russian factories to manufacture Shahed combat drones.
Foreign volunteers who officially joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in accordance with the 1977 protocol to the Geneva Conventions (Part I, Article 1), fight against the Russian invaders in Ukraine absolutely legally, they are part of the structure of subordination to Ukrainian government agencies.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Ukraine recognised the participation of NATO mercenaries in the war against Russia, that Ukraine recruits Brazilian mercenaries who train organised crime in Latin America, or that Ukraine recruits murderers and drug traffickers to the army.