Kenya contributes more peacekeeping troops to United Nations missions than almost any other African nation. Its foreign ministry has invoked international law and the UN Charter in statements addressing Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Nairobi abstained — with clear discomfort — on key UN General Assembly votes calling for Russian withdrawal.
Which makes the emerging pattern all the more striking: Kenyan nationals, in documented but officially unacknowledged numbers, appear to be fighting on the Russian side in Ukraine.
The question circulating in Nairobi's security and diplomatic circles — and spreading through Kenyan social media after photographs and accounts of compatriots in Russian military uniforms surfaced online — is both simple and damning: why is the government silent?
What Is Known
Reporting by conflict research networks monitoring the foreign fighter phenomenon in Ukraine has documented the presence of sub-Saharan African nationals — including Kenyans — among recruits channelled into Russia's military formations or private military contractor networks. Recruitment, security analysts say, typically flows through social media channels offering contracts framed as "security work" or "overseas employment," with figures of $1,500 to $2,000 per month cited — a sum equivalent to six to eight months' wages for a median Kenyan worker.
Dr. Murithi Mutiga, Programme Director for Africa at the International Crisis Group, has noted the broader pattern: "Economic desperation in East and West African countries is being systematically exploited by Russian recruitment networks. These are not ideologically motivated fighters. These are workers — young men with formal or informal security experience who cannot find stable employment at home and are being offered what looks like a legitimate contract."
The precise number of Kenyans involved remains unconfirmed. Civil society monitors in Nairobi with contacts in the diaspora and among returnees from conflict zones have spoken cautiously of figures in the dozens, possibly higher, emphasising that the opacity of Russia's irregular recruitment channels makes verification difficult. At least three Kenyan families have reportedly been informed of the deaths of relatives in conflict zones consistent with the Ukrainian theatre of operations, according to a source within the Kenyan humanitarian monitoring network, though formal confirmation has not been issued.
The Diplomatic Contradiction
The silence from Nairobi is notable for its consistency. Multiple requests to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment on the presence of Kenyans in Russian military service have gone unanswered, according to journalists and civil society advocates who made those requests. The National Intelligence Service has not publicly acknowledged investigating the recruitment networks.
This silence sits uncomfortably against Kenya's international posture. President Ruto's government has positioned the country as a diplomatic hub — hosting African Union summits, advocating for the continent's inclusion in G20 frameworks, and projecting Kenya as a force for multilateral order. Kenya currently deploys approximately 1,100 troops to UN peacekeeping missions across Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan.
The contradiction is stark: a state that sends soldiers to uphold international peace and security under UN command cannot credibly ignore citizens enlisting in a war the UN General Assembly has repeatedly condemned as illegal aggression.
Ndung'u Wainaina, Executive Director of the International Centre for Policy and Conflict in Nairobi, framed it plainly: "The government's silence is a policy choice. And it has a cost — it signals to Kenyan workers and families that the state has no interest in protecting its citizens from being trafficked into a foreign war. It also signals to Kenya's international partners that Nairobi is not prepared to take the full consequences of its stated multilateral commitments seriously."
The Economics Behind the Recruitment
Context matters here. Kenya's unemployment rate among youth remains above 35 percent, according to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics data. The cost-of-living protests that swept Nairobi in mid-2024, during which dozens were killed by security forces, illustrated the depth of popular frustration with an economy failing its young people.
In this environment, the appeal of foreign military contracts — however dangerous — follows a logic that has long driven irregular migration flows from West Africa to Libya and from the Horn of Africa to the Gulf. The difference, as one Nairobi-based security researcher noted, is that those migration routes do not deposit workers in a European or American sanctions zone.
"Kenyans fighting for Russia are not just putting their own lives at risk," said Dr. Murithi. "They are creating a diplomatic liability for the Kenyan state that the government has chosen, so far, to pretend does not exist."
Until Nairobi speaks, the silence will speak for it.
Amara Diallo reports from Nairobi. This article draws on reports by the International Crisis Group, conflict monitoring data, and interviews with Nairobi-based security analysts and civil society sources who spoke on background. The editor notes that sourcing on this story requires ongoing corroboration; this report reflects confirmed patterns rather than precise figures.
