Tricked with fake job offers, sent to the frontline in Ukraine, now Moscow says it will stop.

This is a big diplomatic shift, and it’s personal.

Russia has agreed to ban the recruitment of Ghanaian nationals to fight its war in Ukraine, Ghana’s Foreign Ministry confirmed on Monday.

According to cbinews.tv sources, the assurance came directly from President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of last week’s Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, after President John Mahama confronted him over the issue.

Here’s the human angle: Accra said last month its citizens were being “tricked”, lured with false promises of well-paid work, scholarships and visas, only to end up in military camps.

The numbers are stark. As of mid-August, more than 270 Ghanaians had fought for Russia; at least 62 have been killed, and 15 more are missing. Ghana is not alone; Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Cameroon, The Gambia and now Botswana have all flagged similar cases.

It’s about exploitation and state responsibility. These are often young, unemployed men taking a chance abroad, not mercenaries. For families in Kumasi and Tamale, this is a cost-of-living crisis turning into a casualty list.

How does this happen? It’s a pattern seen since 2023. Third-party brokers on social media advertise jobs in Russia. On arrival, passports are taken, and recruits are pushed into signing military contracts. Moscow has previously denied systematic recruitment but has now conceded to ban Ghanaians outright, whether irregular or voluntary.

This echoes Soviet-era ties with Africa, but with a darker twist. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia’s Wagner network and affiliated recruiters have turned to the Global South to plug manpower gaps, leveraging the Russia-Africa summits that were meant to be about trade and security.

Will the ban stick? Accra says it will push for repatriation, a full list of Ghanaians in detention or on the frontline, and compensation for families. The real test will be enforcement, and whether other African capitals can extract the same promise from the Kremlin.

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