Andrew Wasike
19 February 2026•Update: 19 February 2026
NAIROBI, Kenya
Moscow denied allegations Thursday that it is recruiting Kenyans to fight in the war in Ukraine, following reports by Kenya’s National Intelligence Service that more than 1,000 Kenyans are currently fighting for Russia in the conflict.
The Russian Embassy in Nairobi said it noted “a dangerous and misleading propaganda campaign” in Kenyan media regarding the participation of Kenyans in the conflict.
The embassy said it “refutes such allegations in the strongest possible terms,” adding that Russian authorities “have never engaged in illegal recruitment of Kenyan citizens in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.”
The mission also said it had “at no point in time” issued visas to Kenyans seeking to travel to Russia to participate in the war and denied encouraging any Kenyan to take part in the conflict.
The statement said foreign nationals are permitted under Russian law to voluntarily enlist in the armed forces if they are legally present in Russia and choose to do so.
The embassy added that it remains open to “constructive and depoliticized dialogue” with the Kenyan government and said draft bilateral agreements on labor migration, travel arrangements and cooperation between law enforcement agencies have been under consideration by Kenyan authorities for several years.
Kenya’s National Intelligence Service told parliament earlier that more than 1,000 Kenyans are fighting for Russia in the war in Ukraine, raising new concerns about foreign recruitment and national security.
Kimani Ichung'wah, the majority leader of the National Assembly, told parliament that more should be done to protect Kenyans from deceptive overseas recruitment schemes.
