Zimbabwe arrests man who fraudulently recruited people into Russian army

In Zimbabwe, the anti-terrorism police unit has arrested a man who was recruiting people to join the Russian army.

This is reported by local media ZimLive.

Edward Kachingwe, 36, was charged with human trafficking and running an illegal employment agency. The man worked with a Russian accomplice. The investigation currently knows that the accompliceʼs name is Roman, and he is still wanted.

A Zimbabwean man recruited five young men to join the Russian army. They were then forced to fight in Russiaʼs war against Ukraine. The recruiter was arrested on June 27 at a bus station as he accompanied one of the recruits to South Africa, the first leg of a trip to Russia. Prosecutors seized e-tickets, Russian e-visas and hotel details for the recruits.

A similar story occurred in Zimbabwe in early June. Then, Russian Leonid Koftev was tried for organizing a trip to Russia for a citizen of the country. Information Minister Zhemu Soda stated in April that at least 18 Zimbabweans had died in the war on the side of Russia, and another 63 were still in the war.

Russian mercenaries from other countries

In the full-scale war against Ukraine, mercenaries from at least 48 countries are fighting on Russiaʼs side. In Moscow alone, more than 1 500 foreigners could be recruited into the Russian army from April 2023 to May 2024.

Currently, there are established facts of recruitment of citizens of Nepal and Somalia into the Russian army. The Russian Federation also recruited illegal migrants from the Finnish border into its army who were trying to get to the EU through Russia.

As for citizens of Nepal and India, some of them are already in captivity or have died. There are videos on social networks with Africans as part of the Russian occupation forces in Ukraine.

The Kremlin also cooperates with the North Korean army — its soldiers are involved in fighting in the Kursk region. In September 2023, a scheme to recruit mercenaries for the war in Ukraine on the side of the occupiers was exposed in Cuba.

In April 2025, Volodymyr Zelensky said that two Chinese citizens who fought in the ranks of the Russian army were captured in the Donetsk region.

Author: Khrystyna Pitsuriak

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