Ruto Says Russia Will Stop Recruiting Kenyans Into Its Military After Putin Talks

Kenyan President William Ruto says Russia has agreed to stop recruiting Kenyan citizens into its military, following talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, as Nairobi moves to secure the return of nationals who travelled to Russia for military-related purposes.

In a statement published on Friday, October 30, after the meeting, Ruto said Putin had confirmed that Kenya would be categorised as a non-source country for recruitment into the Russian military. The announcement is intended to close a channel through which Kenyan citizens have been enlisted into Russia’s armed forces amid the ongoing war against Ukraine.

Ruto also announced the appointment of a Defence Attaché at the Kenyan Embassy in Moscow. The official will work directly with Russia’s Ministry of Defence to facilitate the return of Kenyans who travelled to Russia for military purposes, while also helping to process compensation for those affected.

The appointment comes as families in Kenya continue to seek information about relatives who travelled to Russia after reportedly being offered employment opportunities, only to find themselves involved in military operations. Some Kenyans have been reported killed, injured or missing, while others have been taken prisoner by Ukrainian forces.

The Kenyan government has been under growing pressure to establish how its citizens were recruited, identify those still in Russia and secure the return of those who want to come home. The new diplomatic arrangement could provide a channel for dealing with these cases directly between the two governments, although Ruto did not announce a specific timetable for the repatriation process or explain how compensation claims would be assessed.

The announcement also follows earlier diplomatic engagement between Nairobi and Moscow. In March 2026, Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi travelled to Russia for discussions with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, after which Kenya announced an understanding that its citizens would no longer be enlisted through Russia’s Ministry of Defence.

In October, Mudavadi told Kenyan senators that the government had documented 354 nationals connected to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The figure included people reported to be on the front lines, in military camps, hospitalised, missing, killed, held as prisoners of war or already returned to Kenya. At the time, 62 had been repatriated, according to the figures presented to lawmakers.

The scale of the recruitment problem was also highlighted in an investigation by Kenyan human rights organisation Journalists for Justice, published on October 29. The investigation identified 841 Kenyans recruited into Russia’s armed forces between May 2025 and February 2026, making Kenya the country with the highest documented number of recruits among the African countries examined. It also reported that at least 76 Kenyans had been confirmed dead by the end of June 2026.

The findings have raised questions about recruitment networks and intermediaries who allegedly used promises of civilian employment to attract jobseekers before they became involved in military service. The circumstances of individual cases differ, and the reported figures do not necessarily represent every Kenyan who may have travelled to Russia or become involved in the conflict.

Beyond the military recruitment issue, Ruto and Putin discussed expanding educational opportunities for Kenyan students. Ruto said the two countries would work to increase the number of Russian scholarships available to Kenyans from the current 70 to 300, covering areas including health, artificial intelligence, technology, aviation and cybersecurity.

The two leaders also agreed that their governments would negotiate a bilateral labour agreement intended to allow Kenyans to live and work in Russia. The proposed arrangement is significant because it could establish a formal framework for employment and labour cooperation between the countries. Its eventual terms, however, will matter, particularly given the concerns raised by the recruitment cases.

Ruto further said Putin had committed to supporting the expansion of the United Nations Office in Nairobi, which hosts major UN operations and serves as the organisation’s principal headquarters in Africa. The two leaders also discussed cooperation between their governments in international affairs.

During the Russia-Africa Summit, Kenya and Russia signed five cooperation instruments covering economic cooperation, labour inspection and employment promotion, transport, diplomatic training, and visa-free travel for holders of diplomatic and service passports.

One of the instruments provides for the establishment of an Intergovernmental Russia-Kenya Commission on Economic Cooperation, which is expected to provide a framework for coordinating bilateral economic relations and following up on areas of cooperation.

The agreements come as Kenya seeks to widen its economic relationship with Russia beyond existing trade, while Moscow is pursuing stronger commercial and diplomatic relations with African countries. Ruto has previously acknowledged the imbalance in trade between the two countries and expressed interest in expanding Kenyan exports, including tea and flowers, to the Russian market.

The meeting took place after the Third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, where Putin sought to strengthen Russia’s relations with African governments through cooperation in trade, agriculture, energy, education, technology and security. The summit brought together representatives from nearly 50 African countries, including more than 20 heads of state, according to international reporting.