©Chuanchai Pundej
African prisoners of war in Ukraine say they do not want to go home, but want to return to Russia. Their stories reveal an uncomfortable reality in the struggle between Moscow and Kyiv for influence in Africa. After all, not everyone fighting on the Russian side says they are doing so against their free will. This is evident from an investigation carried out by Politico.
At a Ukrainian detention center, a Congolese prisoner of war, using the alias Avatar, said he hopes for a prisoner exchange that will take him back to Russia, where his family lives. “Why would I want to go back to the Congo?” he told Politico. According to him, he knew exactly what he was getting into when he joined the Russian army. An Egyptian fellow prisoner, Cairo, said the same thing: according to him, the men want to return to Russia, not be repatriated to Africa. For Ukraine, these African prisoners of war are a key part of the diplomatic battle. Kyiv is trying to convince African countries that Russia is using citizens of the continent as cheap and expendable war material. Ukrainian diplomats say that since the start of the large-scale invasion, Moscow has recruited nearly 3,000 civilians from 36 African countries, often luring them with the promise of work and income. But the prisoners themselves partly undermine that narrative. After all, they say that money was actually the deciding factor. Among other things, Russia reportedly offered a one-time bonus of about $13,000 and a monthly salary of at least $2,000.
The issue fits into a broader power struggle on the African continent. Russia has deeper historical ties there, more embassies, and years of Soviet-era sympathy to fall back on. Ukraine has expanded its diplomatic presence, from ten to eighteen embassies, but Russia remains much more visible with 49 posts. According to Ukrainian officials, Moscow is also actively spreading disinformation to portray Ukraine as a racist or neo-Nazi country. Still, the African prisoners of war see their fate primarily as a matter of contracts, money, and misunderstandings. A 55-year-old Ghanaian prisoner, Future, said that Ukraine would be better off exchanging them for foreign fighters on the Ukrainian side: “If Ukraine really wants to be friends with Africa, it should let us go.”
©Chuanchai Pundej - illustrative image