How Kirinyaga man shot himself in the leg and escaped Russia-Ukraine war frontline

A man from Kirinyaga County has returned home after surviving the Russia-Ukraine war, where he says he fought on the Russian side for six months before escaping with injuries.

Dishon Maina, from Kiamaciri village in Kagio, Mwea West Sub-county, claims he may be among the few Kenyans who joined the conflict and made it back alive.

Speaking at his family home on Thursday, Maina said he travelled to Russia through an agent, underwent one month of military training, and was later deployed to the frontline.

“I may be one of the few Kenyans to go there, fight, and return alive,” he said.

Maina, a father of two, said he did not pay to travel to Moscow. He claimed recruits were promised lucrative pay packages.

“When you sign the contract, the salary is about Sh1.4 million plus other benefits. But that is money for death,” he said.

He warned Kenyan youths against joining the war, saying many foreign fighters had died on the battlefield.

“To parents crying for the bodies of their children, even the Russian president cannot bury all the bodies of his own soldiers. Don’t think the Kenyan president will bring back the bodies of Kenyans. Parents should discourage their children from going there,” he said.

Maina said he knew the risks before travelling to Russia, and later made several unsuccessful attempts to return home.

According to him, he eventually escaped after sustaining a gunshot wound to the leg.

“I knew that if you were injured, you could be taken to a military hospital, so I shot myself in the leg,” he claimed. “While in hospital, a Kenyan living in Moscow helped me arrange transport through a taxi driver. That is how I managed to escape and return home with the salary I had earned.”

He said the war left him traumatised and haunted by memories of bodies on the battlefield.

“The first time I came home, I feared even birds because I thought they were drones from the war,” he said.

Maina also claimed that when Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi visited Russia, only Kenyans who had not signed military contracts were released.

His mother, Margaret Muthee, said she had spent months praying for her son’s safe return.

“I had sleepless nights for the last five months. I kept going to church to pray for him, and now he is finally home,” she said.

Muthee said many people in the village believed her son had died in the war.

“I became a laughing stock in the community because people thought he was dead. I am just grateful he is back alive,” she said tearfully.

She added that Maina had invested in property and bought a lorry using the money he earned, but insisted she would not allow him to return to Russia.

Maina said he avoided worrying his mother during his time abroad, but remained in contact with his sisters and wife.

“I knew one day I would reunite with my wife and my two sons,” he said.

His wife, Jane Wairimu, said rumours of her husband’s death had spread widely in Kagio town.

“Whenever I passed through town, people pointed at me and called me a widow, yet we were still communicating,” she said.

Maina further claimed that many Kenyans had travelled to Russia to join the war, including recruits from Kiambu, Murang’a, Kirinyaga, and Kisii counties.

“We were many there. Some were even former KDF officers who joined the military. Honestly, I don’t think many people will come back alive,” he said.