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Kenya says Russia will stop recruiting its nationals for war

Mar 17, 2026, 8:11am EDT
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The Foreign Ministers of Kenya and Russia.
The Foreign Ministers of Kenya and Russia. Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool via Reuters

Kenya said Moscow agreed to no longer recruit its citizens to fight in Ukraine. African nations have sought to limit Moscow’s efforts to recruit their nationals following reports that the Kremlin had duped many by promising enticing jobs, only to send them to the front lines.

The agreement with Kenya could deliver a further blow to Russia, which has suffered a series of battlefield setbacks in recent weeks. Kyiv’s strikes on Moscow’s energy infrastructure have impeded Russia from benefiting from higher oil prices sparked by the war in Iran, “while its capacity for sustaining hostilities is dwindling” amid cooling economic growth and rising human losses, The Jamestown Foundation argued.

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