Families of Kenyans allegedly trafficked to Russia and deployed to fight in the war in Ukraine are demanding an urgent meeting with President William Ruto before his delegates travel to Moscow for the Africa-Russia Summit.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The families are demanding that Ruto and his delegates raise the issue with Russian authorities, saying they need answers on the fate of their loved ones, the repatriation of survivors and the return of bodies of Kenyans who have died for burial.

“We are demanding the President to give us an audience so that we can tell him what we want him to discuss at the summit,” the families said, urging the government to act as more Kenyans continue to be recruited.

Some families say they have been left without information about their relatives for months, with one family member describing the pain of not hearing from her son for almost a year.

📌 What You Need to Know

More than 30 families gathered in Nairobi, calling on the President to intervene over relatives who they said were recruited with promises of jobs before being sent to the battlefield.

These concerns come months after parliament was told that more than 1000 kenyans had been recruited into Russia’s military through rogue recruitment agencies and individuals.

In the same parliamentary briefing, 89 Kenyans were frontline, 39 hospitalised, and 28 were missing in action, with 35 deployed to camps or bases.

Additionally, about two months ago in July, Diaspora Affairs Principal Secretary Roseline Njogu said that 289 Kenyans have at one point been recruited into the Russian military, with only 64 having returned home and 69 having been confirmed dead or missing in action.

The issue has also been raised in Parliament, with affected families appearing before Senate committees to demand government action.

In September, more than 800 affected families traveled to Nairobi for a Senate hearing where they sought answers about their missing and deceased relatives.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke