A Kenyan court on Monday charged a man with attempting to recruit 25 people to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine, Kenyan prosecutors said, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
The man is Festus Arasa Omwamba, who is alleged to have sought to traffic people to Russia for exploitation by misleading them.
The prosecutors said 22 of the 25 people were rescued in September from an apartment complex in Ati River, a town not far from the capital Nairobi, before being taken to Russia.
Three others who had already arrived in Russia ended up on the front lines in Ukraine and later returned home with injuries.
According to a report presented to Kenya's parliament by the majority leader, Kenyan and Russian government officials assisted illegitimate recruitment agencies that lured Kenyans to the front.
The Russian embassy in Nairobi denied the allegations and said it had never issued visas to people intending to travel to Russia to fight in Ukraine. "The Russian Federation does not prohibit citizens of other countries from voluntarily joining the armed forces," the embassy added.
Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi recently said he would visit Russia to pursue a "diplomatic approach to apprehend all suspicious entities taking advantage of anyone in this unfortunate situation." He added that efforts were ongoing to release Kenyans in Ukrainian prisons, as well as to repatriate Kenyans still in Russia.