Duduzile Zuma, a South African member of parliament and daughter of former President Jacob Zuma, recruited young men from South Africa and Botswana to serve in the Russian army.
This is reported by Bloomberg, citing sources.
According to the publication, 18 young people traveled to Russia in July. They were convinced that they would be trained as bodyguards for her fatherʼs uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MSP). They signed contracts written in Russian and later went to the front in Ukraine.
Relatives of the recruited young men say they lost contact with them in August. WhatsApp messages show that Duduzile assured them that their children would not be sent to the front. However, relatives say that after asking about the whereabouts of her loved ones, she did not return calls and messages for a long time.
Recruiting South African citizens to fight in a foreign war has been a criminal offense since 1998. Under pressure, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered an investigation, and Jacob Zuma asked the Russian Defense Minister to return 18 men from the front.
Previously, Duduzile Zuma actively supported Russia on social media: she posted photos with Putin, criticized President Ramaphosa, and commented on international events in favor of Moscow.
- In August, South African authorities began investigating the recruitment of women to work in Russia at the Alabuz factory, which produces “Shahed” attack drones. In early 2025, the BRICS Student Commission, based in South Africa, advertised vacancies in the construction and hospitality sectors at Alabuz for women aged 18–22.
Foreign mercenaries in Russia
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, the facts of recruitment into the Russian army of citizens of Nepal and Somalia have been established. The Russian Federation has also recruited into its army illegal migrants from the Finnish border who were trying to enter the EU through Russia.
As for the recruited citizens of Nepal and India, some of them are already in captivity or have died. There are already 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 Russian army were captured in the Donetsk region.
In October, an investigation by the Balkan media outlet BIRN revealed that the Russian Federation is recruiting mercenaries in the Balkans for the war against Ukraine.
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