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Kenyan Court Detains Recruitment Director Accused of Trafficking 25 to Fight for Russia in Ukraine
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A Kenyan court has charged a company director with trafficking 25 people to Russia through deception, with prosecutors saying the group was intended for exploitation as fighters in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
This was reported by Reuters on February 26.
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Prosecutors said Festus Arasa Omwamba, described as the director of a recruitment company trafficking victims to “Russia for exploitation by means of deception.”
They said 22 of the 25 were rescued from an apartment complex in Athi River, in Machakos County near Nairobi, in September, before they departed.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said three others who had already gone to Russia ended up on the frontline and later returned to Kenya with injuries.
Prosecutors said Omwamba pleaded not guilty, and the court ordered him held in police custody pending a bail hearing.
Kenya’s National Intelligence Service told parliament in a report last week that recruitment agencies colluded with rogue airport, immigration, and other officials, as well as staff at the Russian Embassy in Nairobi and the Kenyan Embassy in Moscow, to facilitate travel.
The agency put the number of Kenyans in Russia at more than 1,000.
Russia’s embassy in Nairobi denied involvement in illegal recruitment while saying foreigners could voluntarily join Russia’s armed forces.
Meanwhile, it was reported that Kenya’s foreign minister said he intended to travel to Moscow to push for an end to the recruitment of Kenyan citizens to fight for Russia.
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