A number of African countries have approached Ukraine for help in bringing back their citizens whom Russia has recruited into its military. Ukraine wants mutually beneficial relations with African countries that support its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Thanks to Ukraine’s intelligence services, the countries were provided with schemes identifying people involved in mercenarism, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said at a meeting with journalists. Ukraine is asking the African chairmanship to make this one of the topics, focuses, or priorities for next year.
“Because this is a problem that is growing. In Latin America, when I was there, we also talked about this. They are recruiting citizens in Latin America as well. That is why it is very important to identify them. Because we have lists. A list of citizens of foreign countries who are fighting on Russia’s side. We have a list of those killed. And we have our own list of those who are here in captivity,” he said.
The minister explained that African partners are reaching out to Kyiv about how to jointly overcome this phenomenon. In addition, there are requests for help for countries in combating terrorism. There are also prospects for cooperation in medicine and digitalization.
He noted that there is another track that strengthens Africa policy—food security.
“Here is one of the factors that the full-scale aggression has shown is that how significant Ukraine is for the world’s food security. And after we opened nine embassies, trade turnover with Africa increased by a billion. I’m not saying it’s connected; I’m just stating a fact. This presence has an impact. There are countries that have significant deposits of energy resources. We are also offering cooperation here,” he said.
Ukraine is going to expand its presence in Africa.
“I very much hope that ambassadors will be appointed there and submitted to the President for approval. And we will build up both ties and presence,” he said.
Context
Russia is recruiting foreign mercenaries for the war, often under the guise of civilian work. In 2024, there was information about the involvement of African mercenaries in fighting in Kharkiv Region. Moscow is also trying to increase its influence on the continent in other ways.
For years, Ukraine did not pay significant attention to ties with African countries, but during the full-scale war the situation began to change.