Death Contracts: Report reveals how Kenyan youth were deceived into Russia's military

The report, dubbed Death Contracts, shows how the plot hatched in the capital, Nairobi and stretches all the way to Russia through local and international agencies that traded men’s lives for signing bonuses, leaving grieving families behind to mourn over empty graves.

Just a week ago, Evans Kibet’s family from Mount Elgon was beseeching the government to assist them find out the whereabouts of their son… Kibet, a former competitive athlete, was tricked into joining the Russian war with the promise of a salary of about KSh250,000 a month.

"Evans kujipata kwa hii mambo ni maneno ya ukimbiaji. Alikutana na rafiki mwaka jana mwezi wa saba. Alipokutana na rafiki, akamwahidi kuna mbio unaenda kukimbia Moscow, na ako tayari kumsimamia kwa kila kitu," Isaack Maasai, a brother to Evans says.

He says he signed papers he could not read, and saw one million roubles vanish from his signing bonus the moment he signed. Within weeks, he was fighting for the Russians and soon after found himself as a prisoner of war.

Evans is one of the Kenyans and Africans interviewed by journalists for justice in their report, dubbed death contracts. He now sits in a Ukrainian prison alongside hundreds of others like him from the continent.

The report released last month shows that Evans' case is part of a massive transcontinental pipeline that has enlisted over 3,034 African nationals into Russia's armed forces. Kenya sits at the epicentre with 841 documented cases, the largest contingent on the continent. The report also shows that 76 Kenyans have died in that war.

It is an intricate web that allegedly operated in plain sight at Nairobi's KICC and through agencies like Global Face Human Resources Limited, under the directorship of Festus Omwamba. The recruiting agencies lured former National Youth Service graduates, athletes, and security personnel with promises of high-paying technical or security roles akin to a Haiti-style mission. Victims paid heavy fees via M-Pesa before being flown out on one-way tickets via Istanbul and Dubai.

The motivation for joining the war for many Kenyans and Africans remains economic vulnerability. Former military officer Daniel Kariuki lost his business in Nairobi at the height of the anti-government protests of 2024 and was forced to start over again through the Russian war. The truth hit upon landing in St. Petersburg. Pressured into signing Cyrillic contracts he couldn't read, he was rushed to the front line with just days of training. Though Kariuki miraculously survived a landmine blast and escaped back to Kenya, many others did not.

Out of an eight-man travel cohort, some were killed in drone strikes, while others like Evans Kibet and Wilson Macharia ended up as prisoners of war in Ukraine.

As the tragedy unfolded, Nairobi's response drew sharp criticism.

While Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi secured a belated pledge in Moscow to halt Ministry of Defence recruitment, hundreds remain trapped. Worse still, the state has threatened to invoke Section 68 of the Penal Code against victims under the guise of voluntary enlistment, denying compensation to grieving families.

Today, the report shows that a predatory shadow industry of death brokers continues to prey on these families, demanding sensitive documents for a 30 per cent cut of false Russian compensation payouts. For families like that of Evans, the battle is no longer just about understanding an imprisoned son; it is a desperate fight for institutional accountability, justice, and closure.