Russia dismisses military recruitment claims as Ukrainian propaganda

The Russian Embassy in Ghana has rejected allegations that Africans, including Ghanaians, are being deceptively recruited into its military, describing a billboard campaign in Accra warning against such recruitment as Ukrainian state propaganda.

The embassy said the campaign, featuring the slogans “I Want to Live” and “I Want to Find”, was organised by StopRussianRecruiters.org, which it alleged was created and managed by Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War in conjunction with the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the embassy said the billboards, which appeared on the streets of Accra in late October, were intended to discredit Russia and undermine its relations with Ghana.

“Contrary to the pretence of being a human rights initiative, this website was created and is managed by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War in conjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

“This is not a humanitarian project, but a direct instrument of Ukrainian state propaganda, deliberately used to discredit Russia on the African continent,” it said.

The embassy dismissed allegations that Russia was luring Africans into military service through deceptive means, insisting that it had never employed fraudulent recruitment schemes.

“The claims disseminated by this organisation, alleging that Russia is supposedly luring Africans, including Ghanaian citizens, into contract service by deceptive means, are blatant lies.

“Russian side has never used, nor does it use, deceptive schemes to recruit foreign nationals into military service,” the statement said.

It added that no convincing and verifiable evidence to the contrary had been presented by any authoritative international body.

The embassy also argued that the billboard campaign had lost its relevance following Ghanaian President John Mahama’s visit to Russia and his meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

According to the embassy, Russia had given assurances during the meeting that Ghanaians would not serve in its military on a contractual basis.

“At the meeting in Moscow, the Russian side unequivocally confirmed at the highest level that Ghanaian citizens would not serve in Russia on a contractual basis,” it said.

It described the continued display of the billboards as “nothing more than a belated and malicious provocation aimed at undermining the friendly relations between Russia and Ghana.”

Russia accuses Ukraine of recruiting Africans

The Russian Embassy also accused Ukraine of hypocrisy, citing advertisements in Ghanaian media seeking foreign nationals for military positions in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

It referenced an October 8 publication by Ghanaian news website YEN.com.gh, which reported that Ukraine had listed nine military vacancies open to foreign nationals, including platoon commanders and first-person-view (FPV) drone operators.

“Similar advertisements are also being circulated through other channels, including official resources of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence,” the embassy said.

It argued that the recruitment advertisements contradicted Ukraine’s criticism of Russia over the alleged deceptive recruitment of Africans.

“This practice exposes the blatant hypocrisy of the Kiev regime: whilst accusing Russia of non-existent ‘fraudulent schemes’, Ukraine itself is openly and cynically recruiting foreigners, including people from Africa, to take part in combat operations,” it said.

The embassy further claimed that more than 20,000 foreign mercenaries were fighting alongside Ukrainian forces, attributing the figure to Russian security agencies.

It accused the Ukrainian authorities of exposing foreign recruits to deaths in combat, describing them as “cannon fodder” in the interests of Ukraine’s Western backers.

The embassy called on Ghanaians to critically examine information circulated by organisations it described as affiliated with Ukrainian state institutions.

“Russia remains a consistent and reliable partner of Ghana, committed to the steady development of bilateral relations based on mutual respect and trust,” it added.

Ghana’s position

Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on November 2 that Mahama had secured a commitment from Putin that Ghanaians would no longer be allowed to participate in the Ukraine war, whether through irregular recruitment or voluntary enlistment.

“At the just ended Russia-Africa Summit held in Russia, we are happy to report that, in direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President John Mahama has secured the following concrete commitments,” he stated, itemising six points of agreement.

According to the circular, sighted by our correspondent, the item no 5 read, “Following concerns raised by President Mahama, President Putin has declared that Ghanaians are no longer allowed to participate in the war with Ukraine. This policy applies to all circumstances whether through irregular recruitments or expression of voluntary interests.”

The memo concluded stating that “long live Ghana-Russia bilateral relations which have been cordially and mutually maintained since 1958 to the benefit of the two countries!”