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Russia tricks migrants into fighting in meatgrinder death zone: How Africans are being lured with offers of work and money... then sent to their death on frontline
African migrants are being lured into joining the Russian army with promises of work, only to end up being deployed to the front lines of the war in Ukraine where they are used as 'meat for the meat grinder'.
A new report by Ukraine's Centre for Strategic Communications accuses
Moscow of using the facade of sport events, educational grants and employment agencies to trick African men into travelling to Russia.
Recruiters are also believed to have exploited established migration networks that have long been used to source and take advantage of low-paid workers.
Back in February,
Kyiv said it had identified more than 1,700 fighters from 36 African countries serving in
Putin's army.
Now, Ukraine's defence intelligence claimed it has identified 2,965 African citizens who have signed military contracts so far.
Ukraine's Centre for Strategic Communications said Russia 'exploits the socio-economic vulnerabilities of African countries and the personal motivations of foreigners, allowing the Kremlin to intercept migration flows and redirect them from the civilian sector directly to the front line'.
Michael, a Kenyan who is one of thousands of young men who served as mercenaries on the front line in Ukraine, told The Telegraph that he was duped into believing he was being given a security job.
'When we were being recruited, they described it as more of a security job,' he said.
'They were saying: "You will be protecting the areas where the war has already passed. You will just be providing protection, like security."'
Recruiters are believed to have exploited established migration networks that have long been used to source and take advantage of low-paid workers.
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