Kenya’s foreign minister flies to Moscow to demand an end to the press-ganging of Kenyans into the Ukraine war and secure their repatriation.
NAIROBI: Kenya’s foreign minister has flown to Moscow in a high-stakes diplomatic mission to halt the Russian army’s forced conscription of Kenyan citizens.
Musalia Mudavadi will meet his Kremlin counterpart Sergey Lavrov and other officials on Monday and Tuesday.
His primary goal is to secure the safe repatriation of Kenyans stranded in Russia after being lured with false job promises.
Kenyan intelligence estimates more than 1,000 of its citizens have died after being press-ganged into fighting in Ukraine with minimal training.
“The engagement is focused on a broad coordinated government action to protect Kenyans abroad,” a foreign ministry statement said.
It aims to ensure citizens “work in a safe working environment and live dignified lives away from home”.
Mudavadi will also push for a formal agreement to grant Kenyans safer, legal access to the Russian job market.
The issue has caused outrage in Kenya, with a deputy minister condemning Russia’s “unacceptable” use of Kenyans as “cannon fodder”.
The trip follows South Africa’s successful repatriation of 15 citizens from the Donbas region under similar circumstances.
