The authorities in Gaborone reported that young men from the African country are being massively deceived with false promises of work or training abroad, and then forced to participate in active combat operations on the front in Ukraine.
According to an official statement from the country's Foreign Ministry, diplomatic missions are constantly receiving “heartbreaking and desperate calls“ from Botswana citizens. Those on the front lines describe extremely dangerous conditions and physical pressure to sign military contracts. The information was confirmed in a Bloomberg investigation published on July 18.
The problem of illegal recruitment of foreign fighters for the Kremlin's needs is gaining alarming proportions. According to data from the All Eyes On Wagner investigative network, cited by the French RFI, in recent years alone, Moscow has recruited over 1,400 African citizens, with hundreds of them already dying on the battlefield. Countries such as Kenya, Ghana and the Republic of South Africa (RSA) have also raised the alarm about identical schemes and have already arrested local agents who assisted Russian human trafficking networks.
The government of Botswana has called on its population to be extremely vigilant and to check any offer of work or training abroad through official embassies to prevent falling into such deadly schemes.