Evans Kibet, a 36-year-old Kenyan runner, says he was deceived into travelling to Russia for athletics opportunities, then coerced into military service and later captured near Kharkiv by Ukrainian forces. He describes chaotic frontline conditions and says his passport was taken after signing papers he did not fully read. Kenyan and Ukrainian officials warn recruiters are luring Africans with false promises; Ukraine estimates more than 1,400 people from African countries are fighting with Russian forces. Similar schemes have been reported in Cameroon and South Africa, prompting calls for government warnings.
“Told I'd Run, Sent to Fight”: Kenyan Runner Says He Was Tricked Into Russia’s Army
Evans Kibet, a 36-year-old Kenyan runner, says he was deceived into travelling to Russia for athletics opportunities, then coerced into military service and later captured near Kharkiv by Ukrainian forces. He describes chaotic frontline conditions and says his passport was taken after signing papers he did not fully read. Kenyan and Ukrainian officials warn recruiters are luring Africans with false promises; Ukraine estimates more than 1,400 people from African countries are fighting with Russian forces. Similar schemes have been reported in Cameroon and South Africa, prompting calls for government warnings.
02:40 AM, 11/15/2025Conflict
Kenyan athlete says athletics trip turned into forced military service
Evans Kibet, a 36-year-old Kenyan long-distance hopeful, says a trip he expected would help his athletics career instead led to frontline service for Russia and eventual capture by Ukrainian forces near Kharkiv.
Kibet told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle that he was lured from Kenya by an agent offering athletics training and an exhibition race in St Petersburg. He says he was given paperwork and a work permit to sign, then had his passport confiscated and was taken to a camp for military training. Facing threats, he says he was coerced into joining Russian forces.
‘You die like a dog’
“You go 10 metres and you see a dead body. You die there and nobody cares about you. You die like a dog,” Kibet told Deutsche Welle, describing what he says are brutal, high-casualty assaults on the front line.
Kibet says he fled his Russian unit before a planned offensive and wandered into no man's land, where he was detained by Ukrainian troops and later appeared in a video released by the Ukrainian 57th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade. The unit noted that he had 'fought on the side of the enemy' and left viewers to judge his claims.
Numbers and wider patterns
Kenya's ministry of foreign affairs this week said more than 200 Kenyan nationals are believed to be fighting for Russia in Ukraine and warned recruiting agencies are still luring others. Ukrainian officials estimate that more than 1,400 people from African countries are fighting alongside Russian forces. Authorities say some enlisted knowingly, but many were allegedly misled with offers of jobs, study or citizenship.
Similar recruitment patterns have been reported elsewhere in Africa. The Telegraph described cases in which men from Cameroon were allegedly promised work in a shampoo factory in Moscow before being forced to fight on the eastern front; a review of Cameroonian social-media obituaries suggested more than 60 deaths by midyear. In South Africa, News24 has reported that men were told they would receive bodyguard training in Russia but were instead sent to a military camp and then to the front line.
Official responses and concerns
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha urged African governments to warn citizens, describing some contracts as 'equivalent to a death sentence.' South Africa's authorities said they had received distress calls from nationals trapped in the Donbas and noted that joining a foreign army without government authorization is illegal under South African law.
Kenyan officials and human-rights advocates have expressed concern about unscrupulous recruiters who target vulnerable people with false promises. International observers warn the recruitment of foreign nationals into combat roles raises serious legal and humanitarian issues.
What this story shows
Kibet's account highlights the human costs of the conflict beyond the immediate combatants: economic vulnerability, deceptive recruitment tactics, and the risks faced by migrants and athletes seeking opportunities abroad. The case also underscores the difficulty of verifying individual stories amid the fog of war and competing narratives from different sides.
Sources: Interview with Deutsche Welle; statements from Kenya's foreign ministry; reporting by The Telegraph and News24; statements from Ukrainian officials and the 57th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade.