Analysts at EUvsDisinfo have highlighted a false claim circulating online that South African mercenaries allegedly recruited by Ukraine are now appealing for help. According to the narrative, the South African authorities are urgently trying to repatriate seventeen of their citizens who supposedly ended up in Ukraine as foreign mercenaries. The claim further alleges that these individuals were lured into joining the Armed Forces of Ukraine through false promises of lucrative contracts.

As fact-checkers note, this is a common pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about “mercenaries” in the Ukrainian military, designed to undermine international support for Ukraine.

This disinformation story resurfaced in early November 2025, precisely when the South African government was attempting to repatriate 17 of its citizens who had been fighting on Russia’s side in the war against Ukraine. According to reports, the men, aged between 20 and 39, became trapped in an encircled area in the Donbas region. Later that month, it emerged that the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, who is also a member of the South African Parliament, had been involved in recruiting men from South Africa and Botswana to serve in Russian forces fighting against Ukraine. Reports indicated that the group of young men travelled to Russia after being promised training for security jobs, only to be sent to the front lines in Ukraine, after which they lost contact with their families.

On 16 December 2025, Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, confirmed that South African citizens had been drawn into Russia’s war against Ukraine on the side of the Russian military under the guise of attractive employment contracts.

“The process of bringing these young men home is highly sensitive... In fact, our primary engagement has been with the Russian authorities rather than the Ukrainian authorities, because the information available to us indicates that they were deceived into joining the Russian armed forces,” Vincent Magwenya stated.

Earlier, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that at least 1,436 citizens from 36 African countries were fighting against Ukraine on Russia’s side. “This figure reflects identified individuals, although the actual number may be significantly higher,” the ministry noted.

In the summer of 2025, The Telegraph reported in an investigation that migrants from African countries seeking employment in Russia, including jobs in shampoo production, were being deceived by Russian recruiters and ultimately sent to the front lines in Ukraine. Hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Africans have reportedly been lured into the war with promises of “high earnings”. African women have also been misled into taking jobs at Russian factories producing Shahed combat drones.