Anne Ndarua says she is too traumatised to watch video of her son, Francis Ndung'u Ndarua, 35, who appears in Russian uniform with an apparent explosive device and was ordered to act as a suicide attacker in Ukraine. She has urged Kenyan and Russian authorities to work together to bring him and others home after they were allegedly lured to Russia with job offers. Francis paid an agent $620 for travel, was reportedly forced into military training, and deployed to the front within three weeks. Diplomats and additional footage suggest a broader pattern of Africans being deceived into military service and mistreated by Russian forces.
Mother of Kenyan Man Says He Was Deceived Into Serving As Russian 'Suicide Bomber' — She Says She Is ‘Traumatised’
Anne Ndarua says she cannot watch the video showing her son on the front line in Ukraine - CNN
The mother of a Kenyan man who appears in footage wearing a Russian uniform with what looks like an explosive device strapped to his chest says she cannot bring herself to watch the video because it is too "traumatising." Francis Ndung'u Ndarua, 35, was filmed being ordered to run across no-man's-land toward Ukrainian positions, according to widely shared clips and reporting.
Anne Ndarua, Francis's mother, told CNN she does not know his exact whereabouts and urged both the Kenyan and Russian governments to cooperate to bring her son and other recruited Africans home. She said her son had paid an agent $620 (about £460) for travel to Russia and was later forced into military training and reportedly deployed to the front just three weeks after arrival.
Francis Ndung’u Ndarua with a landmine strapped to his body. He was sent towards the front line as a ‘can opener’
"I didn't see it. It is too traumatising. I don't know where he is. I was told he's in Ukraine, but I don't know specifically whether he's there or not," Ms Ndarua said. "They lied to them about real jobs and now they're in war with their lives in danger."
The footage shows Mr Ndung'u being forced to state his name before being pushed down a dark corridor at gunpoint; a Russian speaker is heard hurling racist insults, physically assaulting him and saying he will be used as a "can opener" to breach Ukrainian defences. In a separate video sent to his family in December, he warned other Africans not to travel to Russia for job offers, saying recruits were taken straight into military service and that many friends had died "in the name of money."
Francis Ndung’u Ndarua before he was tricked into joining then Russian army in Ukraine
Context And International Reaction
Diplomats and independent reporting suggest a growing pattern: people from several African countries are reportedly lured to Russia with promises of work and pay, then enlisted and deployed to replace heavy losses. Olexander Scherba, Ukraine's ambassador to South Africa, told The Telegraph that Africans were being used as "meat for the meat grinder" after being tricked into joining the conflict.
Additional footage circulating online has shown Russian troops mocking African recruits; in one clip a Russian soldier filming new arrivals in a snow-covered forest calls them "disposables" and suggests they will sing differently after being sent to the front.
What Families Want
Ms Ndarua and other relatives have appealed publicly for diplomatic intervention and safe repatriation. Humanitarian groups and governments face growing pressure to investigate recruitment channels and protect vulnerable migrants from being coerced or trafficked into combat roles.
Source: Reporting compiled from CNN and The Telegraph.
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