The South African presidency has confirmed that 17 citizens who joined mercenary groups in Ukraine’s war-ravaged Donbas region have sent distress calls pleading for government assistance to return home. The men, aged between 20 and 39, are reportedly trapped in the volatile eastern region where fierce fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces continues.
According to an official statement, the men were “lured to join mercenary forces involved in the Ukraine-Russia war under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts.” The statement did not clarify which side the South Africans were fighting for, but it noted that they had fallen victim to misleading recruitment schemes promising high pay.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered a formal investigation into how these individuals were recruited and deployed to the front lines. The presidency emphasized that it is illegal for South African citizens to enlist in foreign armies or participate in armed conflicts abroad without government authorization.
The Donbas region, a key industrial and strategic area bordering Russia, has been at the heart of the conflict since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Both sides have relied on foreign mercenaries to bolster their ranks, with reports of fighters arriving from several African nations.
The Russian defence ministry claimed in 2023 that at least 14 South African mercenaries had been killed in Ukraine since the war began, although this figure could not be independently verified.
South Africa has maintained a neutral stance in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, calling for dialogue and a peaceful resolution. However, the involvement of its citizens as mercenaries raises fresh concerns about the exploitation of young South Africans by foreign recruiters and the legal implications they now face upon returning home.
